The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday authorized an emergency exchange of up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to address a crude supply disruption affecting the Phillips 66 Lake Charles Refinery in Louisiana, the department said in a statement.

Source: US Department of Energy, Oct 23, 2026

The oil will come from the reserve's West Hackberry site in Louisiana for immediate delivery, the DOE said. This is an exchange, not a sale: Phillips 66 must return all the borrowed crude with additional premium barrels, which the department said would replenish and strengthen the SPR at no additional cost to taxpayers. Yaani: 400,000 barrels means 4 lakh barrels of crude on loan — roughly a day and a half of processing for the Lake Charles plant, which can refine about 264,000 barrels a day, according to OilPrice.com's reporting of the DOE data.

Source: OilPrice.com, Oct 23, 2026

"With this exchange, the Energy Department is taking definitive action to support refinery operations, maintain stable fuel supplies, and ensure all Americans continue to have access to the affordable, reliable, and secure energy they rely on every day," said Under Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit. The DOE did not specify what caused the delivery disruption. A Phillips 66 spokesperson confirmed the refinery would receive the crude but declined to discuss operations, saying the company did not anticipate any impact on Lake Charles operations, Reuters reported via TradingView.

Source: Reuters via TradingView, Oct 23, 2026

The exchange is the second trip to the reserve this month: on October 10 the DOE authorized up to 4 million barrels in emergency exchanges for ExxonMobil and BP after weather-related supply disruptions, OilPrice.com reported. DOE data this week put the reserve at 282.7 million barrels — yaani about 28.3 crore barrels — its lowest level since October 1982, after drawdowns during the US war with Iran and, earlier, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The move came as oil prices kept climbing on Middle East supply fears. Brent crude was trading at $117.04 a barrel on Friday, up 3.42%, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 4.07% to $103.52, OilPrice.com reported. For fuel buyers in Punjab and across the diaspora, sustained crude above $100 a barrel feeds directly into petrol, diesel and airfare costs.