OIL RESERVES USED TO SHAG VOTES

Not so many months ago, we predicted in this space that the nation's strategic oil reserves would become a political pawn in the closing weeks of this year's presidential campaign.

Sure enough, Al Gore suggested last week in a campaign speech in Maryland -- in the middle of the geographic area most dependent on high-cost heating oil -- that President Clinton should release a portion of the reserves to cushion the blow of keeping warm this winter.

Clinton responded immediately by offering 30 million barrels of the 570-million-barrel stockpile. In doing so, the president once again insisted that this was no political ploy but, rather, an honest response to a critical situation.

This isn't the first time Clinton has used the oil reserves as a campaign crutch. He did it during his 1996 campaign against Bob Dole. And the president didn't see fit to help fight heating-oil bills that have gone up 67 percent since last year until his vice president, on the campaign trail, asked him to do it.

Not that Gore's request came as a surprise. White House staffers have been debating how to make the most of the oil reserves for months. Not everyone on the president's staff agreed that the reserves should be tapped for short-term domestic emergencies. The stockpile was created to make sure the military would have enough oil in the event of a world crisis that might cut off overseas supplies. So when pressure came to release some of the reserves to offset skyrocketing gasoline prices, the White House resisted. And no action was taken on heating oil until it became clear it might boost New England votes for Gore.

But the gesture is little more than a sham. U.S. refineries are operating at 95 percent capacity right now, which means the 30 million barrels of reserve oil can't be processed in time to fuel furnaces this winter.

And for some oil companies, the release of the reserves could wind up putting even more pressure on the cost of fuel next year. How?

The reserves must be replaced. Oil companies who take any of the reserve oil now must bid on it. The replacement cost for oil next summer could be even higher than it is today, depending on the world oil market. If it is, that would likely mean higher costs to consumers for refined products.

George W. Bush favors domestic exploration for oil and gas. But first the nation needs an energy policy. Without a plan, neither dipping into reserves nor exploration will be meaningful for the long term.