WASHINGTON: The US Congress is expected to lift a four-decade-old oil export ban this week, amid record high crude American production, as part of a massive spending measure unveiled Wednesday.

Republican and Democratic negotiators struck a deal on the $1.146 trillion package that sets federal expenditures through September 30, 2016.

The legislation is expected to get a vote on Thursday and includes concessions from both parties, including a lifting of the decades-old ban which had been a pressing concern for Republicans.

The House of Representatives adopted a similar measure last October, but the Senate had yet to take it up. Inserting it in must-pass spending legislation negotiated between the two parties makes it highly likely the ban will be repealed.

Congress, fearing a shortage, had banned the export of US crude in 1975 when energy prices skyrocketed. US crude production rose from five million to 8.7 million barrels per day between 2008 and 2014, according to the US Energy Information Administration, due in large part to a drilling boom prompted by the expanded permitting and development of hydraulic fracturing.

The 2014 production is the highest since 1985. In addition to creating US jobs, Republicans say they hope the move helps Washington’s European allies, many of whom are currently dependent on Russia for their energy supplies and have expressed concerns about their energy security.

Investors have said they do not envision a significant impact on the oil market.

Senate Democrat Heide Heitkamp of oil rich North Dakota said the deal also includes a five-year extension of wind and solar energy production tax credits.

Number two Senate Republican John Cornyn called the provision a “shot in the arm for a sluggish economy.”

US industrial production fell for the third straight month in November, hit by unseasonal warm weather that lowered utility demand.

The Federal Reserve said total industrial output dropped 0.6 percent in November. It also revised October’s figure to a 0.4 percent decline, twice as large as previously estimated. Compared with a year ago, industrial production fell 1.2 percent last month.

Warmer than normal weather in much of the country curbed demand for heating, pushing utilities output 4.3 percent lower.

Mining output fell for the third month running, by 1.1 percent, and was down 8.2 percent from a year ago as oil and gas industry companies cut back in the face of lower energy prices.

Output by the key manufacturing sector was flat as a gain in nondurable goods, like food and beverages, was offset by a decline in durable goods, such as electrical equipment, appliances and motor vehicles.

Manufacturing, which accounts for about 75 percent of US industrial production, has been under pressure from a strong dollar that makes exports more expensive, the global slowdown and moderate growth in the US economy.

Output year-over-year rose 0.9 percent.