The U.S. Energy Department said on Thursday it plans to sell up to about 20 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as directed by laws passed in 2015 and 2018.
The department is required to sell a little more than 10 million barrels during fiscal year 2021 by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. In addition, the department said it is allowed by law to sell up to $450 million worth of oil to pay for modernization of the reserve, held in caverns in Texas and Louisiana, which could require an additional 10 million barrels in sales.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner)