The Gulf of Mexico, the nation's largest energy center, was
still reeling yesterday, four days after Hurricane Katrina,
crippling gasoline supplies in some pockets of the country. In
the face of the turmoil, the government stepped up its release
of strategic oil stocks to refiners.  The Bush administration
said it approved a loan of six million barrels from the
emergency reserve to Exxon Mobil, and another one million
barrels to Placid Refining. A third company, Valero, will
receive 1.5 million barrels. The new supply is, however, far
less than what is needed to make up for the expected loss of
production from the gulf -- a region that accounts for over a
quarter of domestic oil supplies.  Much of the gulf area's
production and refining remained shut yesterday, but the first
signs emerged that at least some parts of the region's intricate
energy infrastructure were slowly coming back. Two important
pipelines that supply oil products to the East Coast began
limited operations again, supported by emergency powe