Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Strategic Petroleum Reserve Exchange to Address Impact of Hurricane Ida

As the President announced earlier today, the Biden Administration is using a wide array of tools to keep gasoline flowing to the pumps and reduce gas shortages. At the President’s direction, the Department of Energy has authorized the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to conduct an exchange of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil with ExxonMobil Baton Rouge to address supply disruptions and enable refiners in the region to access the crude they need to continue operations. This is the first such exchange from the SPR in four years and demonstrates that the President will use every authority available to him to support effective response and recovery activities in the region.

This action is the latest step the President has taken to secure energy supplies and relieve price pressures in the region. This week, the Department of Transportation provided new flexibilities for truck drivers to enable them to deliver fuel, the EPA issued waivers that expand the supply of fuel, and the IRS waived the penalty for the use of dyed-diesel fuel on highways in the affected region in order to expand availability of diesel for use on Louisiana roads at a critical time for response and recovery efforts. The President has also authorized a series of actions to assist with urgent power restoration efforts to restore electricity in the Gulf Coast, where a number of gas stations remain without power. President Biden has made clear: the entire Federal Government will do everything possible to help Americans facing acute needs in the wake of a catastrophic storm.

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