The US allowed to allocate up to 4 million barrels of oil from the reserve due to the hurricane

The U.S. Department of Energy has allowed to urgently provide up to 4 million barrels of oil from the country’s strategic reserve to eliminate supply disruptions due to the hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, the press service of the department said.

ExxonMobil and BP America will receive up to 2 million barrels of oil each. As part of the agreements, they are obliged to return the received volumes in 2027 with additional oil, which will allow replenishing the strategic reserve without additional costs.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the decision would support refineries and limit disruptions to fuel supplies.

“In addition to helping minimize supply disruptions, these emergency agreements will also oblige Exxon and BP to return more barrels to reserve than they currently receive, saving taxpayers millions of dollars,” he said.

The agreement with ExxonMobil provides for the acceleration of oil supplies to the previously allocated company from the strategic reserve to meet current needs.

As CNN reported, Hurricane Isaiah hit the Gulf Coast in Florida on the evening of October 9, causing strong winds and heavy rains. It reached the coast as a category two hurricane with wind gusts of up to 175 km/h before weakening to a post-tropical cyclone.

The storm knocked down trees and left hundreds of thousands of consumers without power on the Gulf Coast.