The United States is considering lifting sanctions on Iranian oil shipments already at sea to ease rising energy prices triggered by the conflict in the Gulf, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday.
“In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water,” Bessent told Fox Business. He added that around 140 million barrels of Iranian crude are currently afloat, equivalent to roughly 10 days to two weeks of global supply.
The US has already allowed Iranian oil to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, he said.
Iranian oil exports have largely been directed towards China so far. However, Bessent said easing sanctions could allow these supplies to reach other markets.
“It can flow into Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, India — who have been good actors in this,” he said.
“We will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign,” he added.
Bessent also noted that by the time the US acts on these shipments, there could be around 260 million barrels of additional supply in the market, including oil released from reserves by multiple countries.
The US could also consider releasing oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to stabilise prices, Bessent said.
“The US could unilaterally do another SPR release to keep the price down,” he said, while ruling out intervention in financial markets.
“We are not going to do a financial market intervention. We are supplying the physical markets,” he added.
Bessent said the US has not targeted Iran’s energy infrastructure during the conflict. However, it carried out a “precision strike” on military assets at Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub.
“The other thing I can tell you, if you’re an oil worker, you don’t want to work there. We will see what happens with whether that eventually becomes a US asset.” he said.
