US President George W. Bush will make an announcement today about energy and call on Congress to pass legislation lifting a ban on offshore oil drilling, the White House has confirmed.
"With gasoline now over $4 a gallon, tomorrow he will explicitly call on Congress to also pass legislation lifting the congressional ban on safe, environmentally friendly offshore oil drilling," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Tuesday.
Differences over energy policy has led to a political spat between Republicans and Democrats and emerged as a key issue in the presidential campaigns ahead of the November election.
Republicans have called for ending a ban on offshore drilling that has been in place since 1981, but Democrats have repeatedly rebuffed such attempts on environmental concerns.
In the race for the White House, Republican candidate John McCain supports ending the ban on offshore oil exploration and Democratic candidate Barack Obama opposes it.
Some experts say Bush could override congressional objections through an executive order, but Perino said: "The president is not taking any executive action tomorrow."
Bush has visited Saudi Arabia twice this year and sought help in dealing with record-high oil prices that threaten the U.S. economy.
U.S. wholesale prices rose by a larger-than-expected 1.4 percent in May after another jump in energy prices, according to the government's producer price index report released yesterday.