we talked about the american petroleum institute earlier. one of its members, big members, is aramco, the arabian oil company, a member of an american based petroleum lobby. how do we know that's not aramco money mixed up in the american petroleum institute's donations? >> well, we don't. we have to rely on aramco understanding and folwing the law. the way the law is written, the way the f.e.c. regulations are written, they are supposed to use u.s.-based money for their political speech in their own ads or giving it to someone else for politics. which means money that's derived from this country. so if aramco has a u.s. subsidiary and the u.s. subsidiary makes money, the law says the u.s. subsidiary can give, and only u.s. citizens can be involved in that decision. that's not the most straightforward thing in the world. aramco has to understand that and carefully follow it. a nd nobody on the outside is going to know how it worked. >> well, you take us right to the core of it. how can secret corporate cash be a legitimate function of democrac

requirements are so weak and so there disclose requirements are so we know that in particular american petroleum institute is being funded is funneling a lot of this money into the elections and that the saudi arabian oil companies are funneling money into the american petroleum institute so how can we guarantee that money coming from the. a.p.i. organization isn't coming from saudi or. you know there is no way to guarantee that they may say well we're finding that the u.s. is syria but it's the same company they share the funds they can move funds around to finance anything they want and so you know it's a gigantic problem and fundamentally i think we need to start doing what president obama said last week is that we need to start mobilizing a movement for a constitutional amendment to really tackle you know the fact that corporate funding in elections shouldn't be a first amendment right you know my money is property not speech right and everyone has the same amount of property the same same amount of speech so you know i encourage people to get involved to really tackle this issue if you go to progress

joining us is the american petroleum institute's president and cio, jack girard. morning. >> you're welcome. >> let's get right to it. who is to blame? >> well, gas prices are a function of the cost of crude oil. of course the crude oil price has been moving up since about july, and so at the end of the day, there's a lot of factors that contribute to that, and what determines the cost of crude oil, not the least of which is the ongoing unrest in the middle east and a number of other economic factors, including worldwide demand, what the production is here in the united states, et cetera, so there's lots of blame, if you will, to pass in a lot of different places but it comes back to market fundamentals, and market expectations. >> and can you explain then, i don't know if you can, what happened yesterday with the price? we saw that big drop. >> i was reading some of that this morning and some suggested it was a technical glitch, a fat finger as i guess they called it on the street. i'm not sure we know yet what happened. it will be interesting to find out. i know

those are the look of the oil prices that now according to a report by american petroleum institute all supply slid to the lowest level since march so we've got gains in the oil set today as you can see the light sweet on the brands that. at this hour are very diverse how the business has as i say it's all about apec this way exciting stuff looking forward to more deals coming out of it absolutely ok thanks very much indeed for that and as you said we're looking forward to getting more ideas from there in the meantime though there is plenty more to come your way here on r t including our special interview on the state of the european economy and several headlines in just a few moments. in his first t.v. interview since his inauguration. on those not so you might just as well unlock one ton of all of its inmates and bring them to syria to do the fighting the way they're practically the same calling to people bloody near putin speaks exclusively to r.t. . wealthy british style. time by. market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons or for a

getting now site concern is that the who lie is now on the rise now that's according to the american petroleum institute this saying this is now two point four million more barrels in the wall but the official figures will come out tomorrow from the energy department they'll release that invent three fourths of certainly us. that crisis now the rumble between russia's gas problem on the european commission continue and a g commissioner says he hopes for a quick halmos resolution the audience dimitri medvedev he told to constantine samael from russia's national energy security fund and he was saying that there is no winners in a conflict where both partners are vital to one another. now pro must find an answer there is only one answer to european commission to change our energy policy and science serious conflicts with china and other asian consumers is a ready to do that i don't think it is china is ready to do it the question of course is price that is why i said that there will be fools us of course it's a problem for russia it will be impossible to fly and the same comfortable consumer is you chinese

it is we've got the prices gaining in today's session now according to a report by the american petroleum institute all supplies slid. in the lowest level since march supplies down would have prices go up all right then some or a pick axe should marry her that is but it's a value add the if it is for russia of course as well by peg is definitely in the spotlight today so we'll be hearing more and of course looking forward to the very latest from our business desk as well as our correspondent there thanks much indeed for this katie will later on r t we ask a syrian opposition near where the country's internal conflict is heading to and that's after they had lines in just a few moments. spanning continents. and ocean connections. come to. empower the pacific. the russian apec summit on our two. worlds the future of science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got this huge earth covered.

are indeed gaining if we talk about supply i can tell you that it's actually despise the american petroleum institute is concerned at its lowest level since march for the u.s. in ventris so very that's how the markets live finale back in about fifty five minutes and apec will rule the day we're going to keep track of those deals take advice and also the european markets open shortly as well definitely so while we're looking forward to that and of course as you said is in the spotlight so plenty more to come your way in the world of business and of course here in the news we will be bringing you the state of the european economy in our interview in just a few moments before i've really had one see this. you. wealthy british style as i said that's not on the time of. the. markets why not this scandal if find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons are for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our feet in his first t.v. interview since his inauguration suddenly start this i used the u.s. and its allies went into afghanistan used them

causing supply disruptions in the gulf of mexico as well and according to a report by american petroleum institute oh supplies have slid to the lowest level since march and that is indeed the markets when all of us hope this is marina's so i pick a rules the day keeping in mind there is a major multi-million dollar bills and indeed carrie thanks very much indeed for bringing us the very latest and for monitoring the situation there we're keeping your fingers on the pulse of the city looking forward to more updates next hour before the ad hour bring the headlines and kaiser report is on the way. in his first t.v. interview since his inauguration. i'm aware of the pussy riot case yes let but i'm not getting involved in any way. bloody near putin speaks exclusively to r.t. . their clouds childhood was overshadowed by this tragedy. they still feel the fear they faced. and remember every second of this nightmare. that will remain in their memories and hearts forever. the town of anderson soldiers. innocent victims. of little angels.

to see that they are continuing to climb out going forward there's been a report by the american petroleum institute supply is on the rise by some two point four million more barrels now the official figures will come out some are from the energy department they're already invent reports about so expensive to change the prices and the rumble between russia gas problem the european commission kinski news artes to meet you member he too close to cement all from russia's national energy security fund and he says there can be no winners in a conflict where both partners are vital to one another. now i guess pro must find an answer there is only one ounce of the european commission to change our energy policy and science serious conflicts with china and other asian consumers is a ready to do that i don't think it is china is ready to do it the question of course is price that is why i said that there will be fools us of course it's a problem for us or it will be impossible to fly and seem comfortable consumers you and he's not going to pay the same amount of money as you can when it comes to china i thin

we're seeing oil prices extending the losses as traders wait for the american petroleum institute's supplyming out and tomorrow morning for the report from the energy department on weekly oil supplies. the expectation is that we're going to see builds across the board in oil, gasoline, and fuel supplies. that may be adding to the pressure that's been going on since yesterday. today the white house reiterating its statement that all options are on the table, including a possible release of emergency reserves from the strategic petroleum reserve. no announcement made yet on that front. and we're also keeping our eye on these technical levels with oil prices below the 200-day moving average. back to you, michelle. >> thank you so much, sharon. what's the real story behind the recent price fluctuations in oil? you see that intraday move yesterday? that was a biggie. here with his take is chris faulkner. good to see you. why did oil take such a nose dive in a nano second yesterday? >> i think we have some speculation that a perfect storm occurred with with the jewish holiday combined with octob

we actually had a lot more oil out there from the american petroleum institute but also had some commentsaying they were going to try to get the brent price down to 100. these were anonymous comments but attributed to the oil minister. realistically that was kind of double-whammy. it is kind of a one day event. it will be interesting to see if it holds. stuart: i'm looking towards the future of the price of gasoline. seems to me it's topped out at about 3.87. i'm expecting with oil coming down that gas will come down? you won't join me in that prediction? >> in chicago we're still at 4.29. i'm not sure we're seeing the same thing you are seeing right away. supposedly the midsection of the country is supposed to be having cheaper gas but certainly don't see it here in illinois. it would be nice to say the price of oil is going to continue to go down and i would like to see it would. it's been almost 48 hours since something has come out of the middle east so it will be interesting to see if that continues. stuart: very interesting. thanks for joining us on very short notice. we appreciate

jack gerard, the president and ceo of american petroleum institute live from charlotte where the convention is being held. how about it, jack, because a lot of people say you know what, romney didn't get a very big bounce out of last week's convention. now maybe the democrats will be able to build up a little bit of a lead here after the president speaks on thursday night. >> well, there's a lot of people that have different views about bounces and how big they should or shouldn't be. a lot of people suggest that really what's going on is you have very few people that are undecided. 3 to 6 percent that really haven't yet made up their mind. a lot of this election has already been cast. there's clearly a sharp choice here. there's a role for government, less government. we in the energy industry look at this as a very dramatic choice in terms of developing our own oil and natural gas right here on our own shores to help with the economic recovery. and while we hear about an all of the above energy plan, we don't believe that they are actually walking that walk. we're hopeful they will to put

congressman reid, the american petroleum institute is sending mailers into the district and pacs andbuting to this race. i'm seeing it already. also, i want to mention even before this citizens united era the influence of money and politics is there. my opponent. i raised $500,000 already from individuals my opponents raised $6750,000 from corporate political action committees. we need to be pushing, especially as progressives here, too, for public financing of elections and get the money out of politics. >> how much time, give me an estimate, of your time spent waking and working. i'll go around the table, do you spend raising money. be honest. >> 75%. >> well, you know -- >> we're in a a different situation, but we raised over $1 million in heated primary that was necessary to get the message out. districts have grown 717,000 people in the size now and the cost of media in order to be able to broadcast -- >> how much time? >> i would say greater than 50%. >> we spent about 25 hours a week in call time and the rest of the time meeting voters and, so -- >> i spend about 25 hours a we

that's rather bearish, a big build in supplies according to last night's data from the american petroleum institutee saudis saying they're pumping more aggressively to 10 million barrels per day. all of this is on the backdrop of what the white house may do. some speculate they will do at some point which is to perhaps release emergency reserves from the strategic petroleum reserve. right now the energy department is out with its weekly number on oil, gasoline and fuel supplies and we are looking at a huge, huge build in crude supplies up 8.5 million barrels and the increase in crude supplies of 8.5 million barrels and gasoline supplies down 1.4 million barrels and we were expecting to see an increase there. gasoline supplies down 1. million barrels and a build was expected and activity lat supplies are down by 300,000 barrels. this is a tremendous increase in crude supplies and we're trying to find out what's behind this big change, but you have to think that, of course, after hurricane isaac, there are a lot of kind of getting back on to the regular game plan here with the crude inventory levels

petroleum reserve release. where did that rumor come from? my question is the white house playing politics ahead of the november election? let's go to my pal at the american enterprise instituteprice fell about five bucks. came back about half of the way. no confirmation from the white house. but this rumor keeps occurring, the strategic petroleum reserve, get oil and gasoline prices down. do you hear it in sfwhaesh what does it mean? >> the administration has been talking about this. at one point they were going to do a joint thing with david cameron and the british government. it's like the fed. they talk about it enough and these rumor, they don't have to do it. listen, my father-in-law was a police detective for 30 years. he taught me about the means and motives. the administration has the means. they have the motive because gasoline prices have been rising and there's an amazing linkage between gasoline prizes and presidential approveat ratings. >> we talked about that. the international energy agency, though, has suggested strategic reserves if there's an attack by israel or iran. that's tissue, is it not? the israel, iranian story? >> certainly if that happens you don'