On June 11th, Democrats in congress voted to reject President Bush's proposal to allow federal leases for offshore drilling.  Crude oil skyrocketed almost 5% immediately afterwards, jumping from $127 a barrel to $133 a barrel.  This shows the link between crude oil prices and future expectations.  Democrats claim that if we allowed offshore drilling it would do nothing to lessen energy prices in the short term.  They claim it would take 10-15 years before any noticeable drop in price would occur.  However, crude oil prices are "futures" prices.  They are predictions by the market of what supply and demand will look like at some point in the future. 

The experience with the Congressional vote and the jump in crude oil prices on June 11th, shows there could be some immediate relief in prices if Congress were to approve offshore drilling.