U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday in a Fox Business Network interview that the United States is not attacking Iran's energy infrastructure in the context of the ongoing U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. He emphasized that Tehran's oil has continued to flow out of the Gulf despite the heightened tensions.
Bessent said Washington may move to lift sanctions on Iranian oil that is already on the water within the coming days. He provided an estimate that the oil currently at sea amounts to roughly 140 million barrels, and suggested there remains additional capacity for policy action to influence overall global oil supply.
On supply-side policy tools, Bessent raised the possibility of another release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help keep prices in check. He stressed, however, that the U.S. Treasury is not intervening in futures markets. Instead, he described the government's current role as creating excess physical supply by easing restrictions on oil that is on the water.
"We are not doing a financial market intervention," Bessent said, clarifying the distinction between actions that affect paper markets and those that alter physical availability of crude.
Addressing international dimensions of energy security, Bessent said he would expect countries such as Japan to be interested in securing oil supplies from the Gulf. He added that U.S. President Donald Trump has an excellent relationship with the Japanese leader, an observation offered in the context of anticipating international cooperation on energy flows.
Summary of key elements:
- U.S. is not targeting Iran's energy infrastructure amid current conflicts.
- Iranian oil has been permitted to continue leaving the Gulf; about 140 million barrels are currently on the water.
- The U.S. may lift sanctions on that oil in the coming days and could consider another Strategic Petroleum Reserve release to ease price pressures.
- Treasury distinguishes physical supply actions from interventions in futures markets, saying it is not conducting a financial market intervention.
- Japan is expected to show interest in Gulf oil supplies, with bilateral ties noted between U.S. and Japanese leaders.