Hurricane Laura hit the Strategic Petroleum Reserve site at West Hackberry, Louisiana, in late August. However, the US Department of Energy on Thursday said that it only damaged the site’s fences, buildings, and other support infrastructure, adding that main infrastructure, including oil caverns, pumps, pipes, and valves were intact and in a safe idle condition.
Producers were allowed to store about 21 million barrels of oil at the West Hackberry site during the fuel demand collapse amid the coronavirus pandemic. Companies had taken back about 8.3 million barrels before the storm hit the area. An energy department official said that companies could take their oil from other three SPR sites.
The West Hackberry was established after the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s to help stabilize domestic fuel prices. The facility has 21 caverns and currently holds almost 650 million barrels of mostly sour crude.
