The US for the second time in its history is trying to collect money for the budget through the sale of oil from the reserves created during the oil crisis of 1973-74, as opposed to the influence of the Arab world on the oil market. For the first time this measure was used to cover the budget deficit in 1996-1997.
US plans to sell 8% of strategic oil reserves in the period from 2018 to 2025 in order to attract liquidity in the budget agreement reached on Tuesday night between the White House and Congress, reports Bloomberg.
Currently, the volume of US strategic reserve is of about 695 million barrels of oil, stored in the four terminals along the US owned part of the Gulf Coast.
It is expected that in just eight years, there will be sold about 58 million barrels of oil, starting with 5 million barrels in 2018 with a rise to 10 million barrels by 2023.
The proceeds will be placed in the general fund of the Ministry of Finance, according to the corresponding bill.
The volume of sales may be increased in order to finance the program of the modernization of strategic reserve, which includes the laying of new pipelines in the United States territory. The program of $ 2 billion is planned for the period from 2017 to 2020.
Supporters of the decision on sale of the strategic reserve note that United States do not need such large reserves in the face of rising domestic production. But critics focus on the fact that the sale of the reserves will happen in a period of low oil prices.
According to the US Department of Energy, the average purchase price of oil in the reserve is $ 29.7 per barrel. However, according to research firm ClearView Energy Partners, adjusted for inflation and with other factors the price increases to $ 74 per barrel.
In the course of trading on Tuesday, the WTI oil is traded below $ 43.4 per barrel.