US officials are prepared to tap the government's strategic oil reserve if a storm damages oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico, a Department of Energy spokeswoman said Friday.
"We're standing ready to use every available authority to provide supplies of energy in the event of a disruption," spokeswoman Bethany Shively told AFP.
"The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a key safeguard that we have to provide protection for the American people during the event of a severe disruption of oil supply," she said.
The reserve currently holds an emergency supply of 707 million barrels of crude oil, she said.
President George W. Bush rejected suggestions the government should dip into the strategic reserve in July to help ease record-high gasoline prices as crude oil soared.
But the president agreed to use the emergency supply in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf of Mexico, where a quarter of US oil production is located, interrupting 95 percent of operations.
According to the forecasts of the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Gustav is expected to strengthen into a hurricane before entering the Gulf of Mexico this weekend.
Several oil companies have been bracing for the storm, evacuating personnel from offshore platforms and preparing to shut down operations.
