Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's advisers will recommend that he veto any energy legislation that raises taxes on the oil industry, the administration said.

The legislation shouldn't ``raise taxes nor use the tax code to single out specific industries,'' White House National Economic Council Director Allan Hubbard wrote in a letter yesterday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The letter marks the first comprehensive statement of what Bush doesn't want to see in whichever energy bill is sent to his desk for a signature. Measures in both the House and Senate would levy billions of dollars of new taxes on the oil and gas industry to help fund development of renewable energy resources.

Pelosi and other Democratic leaders plan to press forward energy legislation absent formal negotiations with Republicans to resolve differences between bills passed by the House and Senate this summer, her office confirmed last week.

The push for energy legislation comes after average U.S. retail gasoline prices reached an all-time high in May at $3.218 a gallon. Today, New York crude-oil futures climbed to a record at $88.20 a barrel.

``The price of oil is skyrocketing,'' said Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. ``We welcome a battle with him on these issues.''

Different Bills

The House energy bill approved in August would revoke $16 billion in oil industry tax breaks over 10 years and redirect that money to alternative-energy tax credits as well as funding for conservation and hybrid cars. It also includes a requirement that utilities get 15 percent of their power supplies from such renewable sources as wind and solar by 2020.

The Senate measure, approved in June, would require an increase in car fuel economy standards for the first time in more than two decades and quadruple the use of alternatives to gasoline, such as biofuels and ethanol.

The Bush administration's letter said any energy legislation should ``reform and strengthen'' fuel-economy standards with separate limits for cars and light trucks that are ``based on sound science, safety and cost-benefit analysis.''

That statement ``appears to back'' a House proposal on fuel-economy standards that wasn't included in the bill that passed, said Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

Mileage Standards

The Senate's fuel-economy measure calls for a combined average for cars and trucks of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The House proposal, which Territo's group supports, would set separate standards based on vehicle size and other factors.

A White House list of ``deal-makers and deal-breakers'' will limit bargaining on the combined energy bill submitted to the House and Senate for final approval, Kevin Book, senior vice president for energy policy at Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co., wrote in a note to clients yesterday.

``Lawmakers need only 218 House and 60 Senate votes for legislation the White House would willingly sign, but overriding a presidential veto requires a much-less-likely 290 House and 67 Senate votes,'' Book wrote.

The Bush administration wants Congress to push forward a bill, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters today.

``There's no doubt that energy prices are too high,'' she said. ``We're asking the Senate to push forward a more ambitious bill so that we can get out of this vicious cycle of the problem of supply and demand and get some alternative energies.''

Bush opposes provisions that would allow the U.S. to sue members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for antitrust violations and impose price controls on gasoline during declared energy emergencies, Hubbard wrote. The administration has said that legislation making gasoline price- gouging a federal crime was a de facto price control that would bring back long lines for fuel, ``reminiscent of the 1970s.''

Hubbard said the administration also opposes a federal standard for renewable power supplies and wants a bill that will increase, not reduce, domestic energy production.

Hubbard sent identical letters to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat; Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; and House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said in an e-mail.

The administration is telling Congress that energy legislation can't be paid for ``all on the back of a single industry,'' said Christine Tezak, a Washington analyst for Stanford Group Co.

Pelosi, of California, and other Democrats will ``have to be less adversarial'' to get the legislation enacted, Tezak said. ``All energy legislation that sits around too long, it starts to stink and it's harder to get through.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Tina Seeley in Washington at tseeley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 16, 2007 15:36 EDT