April 29 (Bloomberg) -- A group of 14 Senate Republicans, including Kay Bailey Hutchison from oil-producing Texas, today asked President George W. Bush to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve because of high oil prices.

``In light of the dramatic increase in oil prices, a temporary halt to deposits into the SPR should be considered until the economy stabilizes,'' the senators wrote.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's similar request April 24 was immediately rejected by the administration. Bush, at a press conference today, said it's in the national interest to keep the reserve filled and to stop filling it wouldn't cut the price.

``Demand is rising faster than supply,'' Bush said. He urged Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration and provide regulatory relief for an expansion of refining capacity. He also said he would ``take a look'' at suspending the federal gas tax.

Crude oil for June delivery rose to $119.93 a barrel yesterday, the highest since it began trading in 1983. The contract fell as much as $2.22, or 2.2 percent, to $116.53 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange today.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said April 18 that the U.S. has about ``55 or 56'' days of emergency oil in the event of a supply disruption and should have 90 days. The reserve was created in 1975 to provide a supply of oil in case of disruptions.

`Right Signal'

In their letter, the senators wrote that the 701 million barrels of oil currently in the reserve exceed a 90-day supply. Halting additional deposits, they wrote, would ``send the right signal to all markets that the U.S. government will take measures necessary to address exorbitant crude oil prices that negatively affect the global economy.''

Along with Hutchison, the letter was signed by John Ensign of Nevada, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Kit Bond of Missouri, Sam Brownback of Texas, Susan Collins of Maine, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, John Cornyn of Texas, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, and John Sununu and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 29, 2008 10:56 EDT