WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democratic legislators are asking President Barack Obama to tap the nation??s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)?"with its 727 million barrels of crude oil?"to combat rising crude oil prices, the Washington Post reports.

"We encourage you to consider utilizing the SPR now," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), along with two fellow House Democrats. The trio labeled the reserve "the only tool we possess which can counter supply disruptions and combat crippling price spikes in the short term."

"From my perspective, it certainly would make sense for the president to begin selling oil from the SPR," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He pointed to rapidly rising prices and the Libyan crisis as reasons to dip into the SPR.

Despite their pleas, the president has not committed to such a plan. On Monday, the White House said that using the reserves is "an option we are considering, and again, within the broader context of the system that exists to deal with a major disruption, should that occur."

Fueling the cry to use the reserves are the fighting in Libya, which has siphoned around 1 million barrels of oil from the world market, and climbing U.S. pump prices, which reached a national average of $3.51 per gallon?"a jump of close to 39 cents in a month??s time. Monday??s crude oil prices topped $105 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Experts claim even releasing some of the SPR would steady or lower prices. "I think the main thing would be to deter those investors who think there??s only upside risk on this price," said Guy Caruso of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.