Energy Department authorizes emergency crude exchange from strategic reserve

The Energy Department authorized an emergency exchange of up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help Phillips 66’s Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery manage temporary delivery disruptions and maintain fuel production. Under the exchange, the company must return the crude along with additional barrels, replenishing the reserve at no cost to taxpayers. Several reports describe the authorization, though one said it could not independently verify the department’s announcement; another reported that U.S. strategic petroleum inventories are at their lowest level since 1982.