"There are a lot of different ways that we can reduce our dependence. Also, I would point out that, obviously, the demand for oil is growing around the world," White House Deputy Spokesman Scott Stanzel said in a briefing.
"Many developing nations like India or China are having greatly increased demand, which obviously is having an impact on price," the senior White House official said responding to a question on the crude oil price crossing the $120-mark.
The senior White House official stressed that it was important for the United States to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
Highlighting the need for "domestic exploration", he said, "We also have to do more in terms of building refineries. We haven't built refineries in about 30 years."
Stanzel also spoke about Bush's remarks, which have drawn a lot of flak from every section in India, saying the Us saw "higher living standards" of people there as a "good thing".
However, he apparently did not go back on Bush's point that Indian food habits were contributing to spiralling prices of commodities, which, in turn, were worsening the global food crisis.
"The point that I think was to be made is that as you increase your standard of living, the food that you eat can venture more into meats that require more commodities to feed the livestock," Stanzel said.
Meanwhile, the senior White House official also defended US policy on biofuels, saying it was having just a "small impact" on the rising prices of food commodities.
"There has been a lot of discussion about biofuels and the impact that biofuels have on increased food prices around the world. As you will see here, over the last year, food prices have increased about 43 per cent around the world. Of that portion, about 1.5 per cent of that is due to an increase in biofuel production," he said.
