Obama targets big tax breaks for big oil

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- U.S. lawmakers should cut tax breaks to oil and natural gas companies to keep the economy moving, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a letter.

Economists are warning the high price of oil and gasoline could undermine the modest economy recovery in global markets.

"If sustained, these high prices have the potential to slow down the pace of our economy's growth at precisely the moment when we need to be accelerating it," Obama warned in a letter to U.S. Senate leaders.

Obama last week called on the Justice Department to investigate suspected manipulation in the energy market at the same time international energy companies are posting billion-dollar profits.

"In fact, in the past (chief executive officers) of the major oil companies made it clear that high oil prices provide more than enough profit motive to invest in domestic exploration and production without special tax breaks," he said in his letter.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in an interview with ABC News that the subject of subsidiaries for oil companies is "certainly something we ought to be looking at."

Obama in a January address to the nation said the country should lead the way toward a clean energy future.