Citgo will be allowed to pull 250,000 barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve because of its inability to secure crude in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.
Venezuela's government-controlled Citgo Petroleum Corp. said Tuesday that supplies to its refinery in Lake Charles, La., were cut off when the Calcasieu Ship Channel closed.
The U.S. Energy Department granted the request late Tuesday, so far the only request for fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The reserve is an emergency depot maintained by the Energy Department and can hold as much as 727 million barrels of oil in salt caverns along the Coast of Mexico.
The Calcasieu channel opened Tuesday, but larger ships were not allowed to pass through.
As expected, energy companies that operate on the Gulf Coast were discovering Tuesday that damage to their platforms, rigs and other equipment caused by Hurricane Gustav was less extensive than that from Katrina and Rita three years ago.
The U.S. Gulf Coast is home to nearly half the nation's refining capacity, while offshore, the Gulf accounts for about 25 percent of domestic oil production and 15 percent of natural gas output.
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