Amid the global oil disruption caused by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the United States is considering removing restrictions on Iranian oil that is already at sea.
The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, disclosed this during an interview with Fox News on Thursday.
He said the US may ease sanctions on Iranian oil and use it to “keep global oil prices down” over the next couple of weeks.
“In the coming days, we may unsanction Iranian oil that is on the water,” he said, noting that there are about 140 million barrels of oil currently floating at sea.
“Depending on how you count it, that is about 10 days to two weeks of supply,” he went on. “This is oil that Iranians have been pushing out that would have all gone to China.”
“In essence, we will be using Iranian oil against Iran as we continue this campaign,” Mr Besset said.
He also declared that the US anticipated Iran’s closure of the key oil passage, through which about 20 per cent of the global oil supply passes.
“This is a temporary chokehold,” he said.
