Energy Department Authorizes Emergency Exchange of Up to 4 Million Barrels From Strategic Petroleum Reserve After Isaias Disruptions
The Energy Department said Saturday it authorized an emergency exchange of up to 4 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep Gulf Coast refineries running and limit fuel disruptions as Hurricane Isaias knocked out power to more than 800,000 customers.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department said Saturday it has authorized an emergency exchange of up to 4 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Isaias along the Gulf Coast.
The exchange is aimed at keeping refinery operations running and limiting disruptions to fuel supplies as the storm’s aftermath complicates energy infrastructure across the region, according to Reuters.
“With this emergency exchange, the Energy Department is acting swiftly to help maintain refinery operations, limit disruptions to fuel supplies, and ensure American families and businesses continue to have access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement Saturday.
A Category 2 landfall with a growing toll
Isaias roared ashore late Friday night near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of about 105 mph, ending a two-year drought of U.S. hurricane landfalls, according to USA Today. The storm killed at least four people — two each in Alabama and Florida, authorities said Saturday — and at its peak Saturday morning left more than 800,000 homes and businesses without power across Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, western Georgia and parts of Tennessee and the Carolinas.
In Escambia County, Florida, one person died late Friday night when a large tree fell on a home, and on Saturday a second person was found dead inside a closed garage where a generator was running, the sheriff’s office said. In Birmingham, Alabama, a tree fell on a home early Saturday morning, killing one person, according to the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency.
Crews race to restore power
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday that crews had been clearing roads of downed trees since before daylight, and that power restoration was being hampered by debris blocking linemen’s access. By Saturday afternoon more than 426,000 homes and businesses in Florida remained in the dark, according to USA Today’s outage tracker.
The storm was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone Saturday and was moving north over Alabama toward the Tennessee Valley, with forecasters warning of continued heavy rain, wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph and a risk of tornadoes across parts of the Southeast into Sunday.
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today and Reuters.
