By Naveen Athrappully
The Department of Energy (DOE) has authorized the release of crude oil from the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to ExxonMobil Corporation to help maintain fuel supply stability in the Gulf Coast, the agency said in a July 11 statement.
Exxon is facing logistical challenges regarding crude oil deliveries to its Baton Rouge refinery in Louisiana. Specifically, “an oil supply disruption has led to reduced operations at the Baton Rouge refinery, limiting production of transportation fuels,” the DOE said.
“Under the exchange agreement, DOE will provide up to one million barrels of crude oil from the SPR,” it added. “The exchange will support ExxonMobil’s restoration of refinery operations that were reduced due to an offshore supply disruption.”
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright authorized the action to ensure a stable regional supply of transportation fuels in Louisiana and the broader Gulf Coast region, DOE said.
ExxonMobil has committed to return the borrowed oil, together with additional barrels, to the SPR at no extra cost to the American taxpayer, the department said.
The action is being taken under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which allows the Energy Secretary to “exchange SPR petroleum products and to acquire petroleum products by exchange for storage in the SPR.”
A similar exchange deal took place in December 2022, when the then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm authorized an exchange of 1.2 million barrels with ExxonMobil and 600,000 barrels with Phillips 66, to address potential supply disruptions caused by the temporary closure of the Keystone pipeline.
In its July 11 statement, DOE said it was closely coordinating with industry partners to ensure the country’s fuel supply chain remains stable during peak demand seasons.
“DOE continues to encourage refiners to prioritize efficient production and delivery of refined fuels, stands ready to support the nation’s energy security through the responsible use of strategic resources,” the department said.
The department will “continue to deliver on President Donald Trump’s commitment to protect American energy security by refilling the SPR.”
DOE highlighted that granting one million barrels of oil to ExxonMobil would not delay or impact the department’s efforts to refill the SPR, which had been depleted under the prior Biden administration.
According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), America’s SPR stood at around 638 million barrels in January 2021 when Joe Biden became president. By January 2025, it had fallen to roughly 394 million barrels.
In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, Trump vowed that he would “fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world.”
According to the DOE, the SPR is the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil. It was set up mainly to prevent disruptions in the supply of petroleum products.
SPR reserves are stored in four huge underground salt caverns along the Gulf of America coastline—Bayou Choctaw and West Hackberry in Louisiana, and Big Hill and Bryan Mound in Texas.
“The sheer size of the SPR [authorized storage capacity of 714 million barrels] makes it a significant deterrent to oil import cutoffs and a key tool in foreign policy,” said the department.
As of March, “the four SPR storage sites were connected by SPR-owned pipelines and commercially owned pipelines and terminals, to 24 Gulf Coast area refineries and six refineries located in Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky.”
