US authorises emergency release of up to 400,000 oil barrels from strategic reserve

 The US Department of Energy said on Friday it had authorized an emergency exchange of up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address a supply disruption affecting Phillips 66’s Lake Charles refinery in Louisiana.

The SPR is already at the lowest level since 1982 after President Donald Trump tapped it as the US war on Iran disrupted supply lines, and after his predecessor, President Joe Biden, turned to it following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Lake Charles refinery has a capacity to refine about 264,000 barrels per day.

The exchange will “help offset temporary disruptions affecting crude oil deliveries to the refinery and support continued production of transportation fuels serving Louisiana and surrounding markets,” the department said.

The refinery will receive crude oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a Phillips 66 spokesperson confirmed on Friday, but he declined to comment on refinery operations or commercial activity. “We do not anticipate impacts to Lake Charles operations,” he said.