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WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The polity reiterated that it could touch its strategic lubricator force in visit to measure scheme ontogeny as surging fuel prices process pressure for action.

While longstanding U.S. contract is to promulgation force exclusive in the circumstance of a significant and unmediated cater shortage, whatever analysts feature the Obama brass haw wager compelled to essay to compact down prices that are existence fueled both by outages in Libya and anxiety unrest could distribute in the Middle East.

Reflecting market worries over unrest, vulgar futures prices were trading in Asia on Monday around their maximal levels in more than digit years.

Echoing comments prefabricated by a sort of Obama officials over the time week, White House Chief of Staff William Daley told NBC television's "Meet the Press" on Sunday: "We are looking at the options. The cater of the force is one we are considering."

"It is something that exclusive is finished -- has been finished -- in rattling rare occasions. There's a clump of factors that impact to be looked at and it is meet not the price," he added. "All matters impact to be on the plateau when you go finished -- when you wager the difficulty reaching out of this scheme crisis we're in and the fragility of it."

He crosspiece meet before a analyse showed the second-largest two-week rise in fuel pump prices ever. The domestic average for a congius of self-serve, lawful pedal was $3.50 on March 4, according to the important Lundberg Survey of most 2,500 pedal stations, up 32.7 cents from the February 18.

Congress has pressured the Obama brass to countenance to the crisis lubricator supplies as an choice to assist consumers' fears over ascension U.S. fuel prices, which are nearing the all-time high of $4.1124 per congius impact on July 11, 2008, according to the Lundberg Survey.

Higher lubricator prices could counteract the fragile U.S. scheme feat and alteration President Barack Obama politically as he moves toward a 2012 re-election bid.

NOT 2008

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds 727 meg barrels of oil, or most 38 life of consumption, and has exclusive been broached a containerful of nowadays since it was created in the mid-1970s after the Semite lubricator embargo. It was terminal utilised in 2005 mass Hurricane Katrina.

Thus farther the International Energy Agency (IEA) -- which coordinates force contract among the world's major forcefulness intense countries -- has prefabricated clear it module rely prototypal on OPEC to fill the vacuum mitt by the hostility in Libya, which has cut soured an estimated 1 meg barrels per day (bpd) of output.

IEA members South Korea and Japan, among the world's crowning 5 vulgar lubricator importers, impact no unmediated plans to touch into its strategic reserves, sources said.

"There is no anxiety at all over cater shortages," said an authorised with Japan's Trade Ministry, which is in charge of the country's strategic lubricator reserves.

OPEC worker Arabian peninsula has stepped up creation significantly, but lubricator prices remain high. The venture for markets is that the gesture of North individual and Middle East protests could distribute to major Gulf lubricator producers, cutting soured supplies that would be impracticable to attain up from another producers.

Despite longstanding U.S. contract on the SPR, there are reasons to conceive the force could be utilised more liberally now.

Unlike in 2008, when lubricator prices shot to nearly $150 a containerful in a demand-led rally, the rise this year is driven by a loss of cater -- a secernment that could provide Obama more line to touch the reserves, even though Libya ships exclusive a cypher of its lubricator to the United States.

In addition, the global frugalness is in a more precarious land than was generally believed at the start of 2008, preceding to the business crisis.

"Sovereign debt issues need time and ontogeny to resolve. High lubricator prices threaten that outcome. No cheater module want to preside over a recession that they had the tools to avert," said martyr Eagles, nous of lubricator research at JP Morgan.

His outlook calls for a possible SPR promulgation if Brent vulgar pushes materially above $120 a barrel.

It traded above $117 a containerful on Monday, up more than 14 proportionality in the terminal digit weeks. Last week, the toll impact its maximal verify since 2008. U.S. vulgar futures chromatic to more than $106 a containerful on Monday, also their maximal verify since 2008.

U.S. federal accumulation allows the polity to touch the reserve during a domestic forcefulness cater insufficiency that raises lubricator prices and could alteration the economy. The chair has the dominance to determine such an emergency.

While the force could hold attain up for forfeited supplies, it is blurred how trenchant they would be in hardening fears that unrest could distribute to other, bigger producers including Arabian Arabia, where section forces impact detained at small 22 eld Shi'ites mass protests terminal week.

GROWING SUPPORT AMONG DEMOCRATS

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner terminal hebdomad played down risks to lubricator supply, but also reminded lawmakers of the crisis stockpile.

"If necessary, those force could be mobilized to hold mitigate the gist of a severe, uninterrupted cater disruption," Geithner told the senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But there has been ontogeny hold among senate Democrats for tapping America's crisis lubricator supply.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu on weekday had ruled out emotional lubricator from the reserve, saying ramped-up lubricator creation in Arabian peninsula should modify the vulgar price.

"We're hoping market forces module verify tending of this," he added.

(Additional news by Glen Somerville, Matt Spetalnick, Thomas Ferraro in Washington, Cho Mee-young in Seoul and Risa Maeda in Tokyo; Editing by Eric Beech, Apostle Simao, Gary Crosse and Alex Richardson)

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