Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced Saturday that the Energy Department is moving quickly with an emergency exchange of up to 4 million barrels of SPR crude to keep refineries running and limit fuel supply disruptions from Hurricane Isaias, saying the aim is to keep American households and businesses supplied with affordable and reliable energy. The move comes as US crude and distillate stocks fell and gasoline stocks rose in the week to October 2, with distillates roughly flat at 105.1 million barrels and refinery utilization at 92.7 percent.
US authorizes emergency 4-million-barrel SPR crude exchange
The US Energy Department authorized an emergency exchange of up to 4 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Isaias.
Why it matters: A fresh SPR draw lands while distillate stocks sit near multi-year lows and diesel prices hover above $6 a gallon, layering hurricane damage on top of the Hormuz and refinery-driven fuel crunch.
Data as of Sunday, October 11, 2026, via Al Jazeera Arabic (in Arabic), translated; single-sourced from the feed item, not independently corroborated. Energy Secretary Chris Wright's statement is quoted via that outlet.
Sources
- أمريكا تسحب 4 ملايين برميل من احتياطي النفط (US withdraws 4 million barrels from oil reserves) · Al Jazeera Arabic · 2026-10-11