(Reuters) – The United States plans to sell 58 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserve between 2018 and 2025 under a budget deal reached on Monday by the White House and lawmakers from both parties, Bloomberg reported.
The proposed sale, which represents more than 8 percent of the 695 million barrels of U.S. strategic reserves, are due to start in 2018 at an annual rate of 5 million barrels and rising to 10 million by 2023, Bloomberg said. (http://bloom.bg/1H6CjcH)
The proceeds from the sale will be “deposited into the general fund of the treasury,” Bloomberg said, citing a bill posted on the White House website.
The United States may also sell an additional 45 million barrels to cover a $2 billion program from 2017 to 2020 to modernize its strategic reserve, including building new pipelines, Bloomberg said.
In all, the sales, if completed, would represent about 15 percent of U.S. strategic reserves and comes as countries such as China and India build their own strategic oil reserves amid a steep drop in global crude prices.