WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department said on Saturday it was prepared to release emergency oil stocks from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to fuel supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Ike.

The Energy Department said it "stands ready to release emergency exchanges of crude from the SPR," a department spokeswoman told Reuters.

"DOE is currently in discussions with additional companies who have requested emergency exchanges of SPR oil as a result of damages incurred by Hurricane Gustav," she said. (Reporting by Tom Doggett, editing by Philip Barbara)

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