The rising cost of energy has led to a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill, with both Republicans and Democrats introducing competing legislation over the past 10 days to ease Americans’ pain at the petrol pump.

The main area of agreement between the parties is that the Bush administration should stop adding between 70,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil per day into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a massive government stockpile at four sites along the Gulf of Mexico.