The Department of Energy announced that it would sell 14 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in order to meet requirements from two bills in Congress, according to an Office of Fossil Energy statement.
The 21st Century Cures Act requires the Energy Department to sell 25 million barrels over three consecutive years beginning this year. Funds from that sale will go to the National Institutes of Health, according to the Department of Energy.
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 orders the sale of 58 million barrels over eight consecutive fiscal years starting in 2018, the statement said.
The reserve, the world's largest emergency crude oil supply, is storied in underground salt caverns at four sites in Texas and Louisiana.
It contains around 678.9 million barrels of crude oil, according to The Hill.
For economic and security reasons, legislators are often reluctant to sell off the reserve, the Hill reports.
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