U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the United States could move to lift sanctions on Iranian oil currently stranded on tankers, a step he described as a near-term measure to increase physical crude supplies and help restrain oil prices.
Speaking on Fox Business Network's Mornings with Maria program, Bessent said the volume involved is about 140 million barrels - an amount he equated to roughly 10 days to two weeks of global supply depending on how one counts it. "In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that's on the water. It's about 140 million barrels," he said. He added that bringing that oil into global markets would likely help keep prices down for about 10 to 14 days.
Bessent linked the need for such steps to recent volatility in oil markets, with prices trading above $100 per barrel for much of the past two weeks amid disruptions tied to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on tankers.
The Treasury has precedent for this approach. It recently authorized the sale of sanctioned Russian oil that was stranded in tankers, a move the department said resulted in about 130 million barrels being added to world supplies.
Beyond potentially unsanctioning Iranian cargoes, Bessent said the U.S. plans other actions to augment supply, including unilateral releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that would add to the coordinated G7 release of 400 million barrels announced last week. He emphasized that these steps are focused on physical supply rather than trading interventions.
"So, to be clear, we’re not intervening in the financial markets. We are supplying the physical markets," Bessent said, adding that the department would not attempt to intervene in oil futures markets but would act to increase available barrels to offset a 10 million to 14 million barrel-per-day shortfall caused by the Strait of Hormuz closure.
On allied efforts to secure shipping, Bessent said President Donald Trump planned to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House to discuss the possibility of the Japanese navy participating in efforts to secure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz - a critical route through which Japan receives most of its oil. Bessent described Takaichi as "very pro-U.S." and said he expected a productive discussion. He also noted that Takaichi might consider releasing additional oil from Japan's strategic petroleum reserve on top of its contribution to the joint release.
Turning to refined products, Bessent said China had become an "unreliable" supplier of refined fuels, citing its cessation of exports of jet fuel and other products to countries in Asia. That dynamic, he suggested, has contributed to regional supply pressures for refined fuels.
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The Treasury's possible unsanctioning of Iranian crude, combined with SPR releases and allied security discussions, signals a multipronged effort to add immediate physical barrels into the market. Officials framed these actions as distinct from any attempt to manipulate financial markets, focusing instead on addressing the tangible supply shortfall tied to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.