WASHINGTON - The U.S. Energy Department said on Friday it authorized an exchange of 300,000 barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help Louisiana, still suffering in the wake of Hurricane Ida, cope with fuel supplies.

The Department authorized the SPR to conduct an exchange of 300,000 barrels of crude oil from the Bayou Choctaw storage site to Placid Refining Company LLC's refinery near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Energy Department said in a statement.

Placid will have to return the oil to the reserve at a later date with interest, usually paid in oil.

It was the second exchange since Hurricane Ida pounded Louisiana on Sunday leaving four large refineries in the state shut.

President Joe Biden, seeking to ease worries about regional fuel shortages, authorized the department on Thursday to loan 1.5 million barrels of crude to Exxon Mobil's Baton Rouge refinery to produce gasoline.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler) ((doina.chiacu@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 202-898-8322;))