US may release reserves, ease Iranian oil curbs to support global supply: Treasury Secretary Bessent

The United States is considering easing restrictions on Iranian oil already at sea as it looks to stabilise global energy supplies, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Thursday.

Also read: Why Iran’s attack on Qatar’s Ras Laffan is terrible news for the world

Bessent said Washington could allow Iranian crude shipments currently in transit to continue flowing into global markets. He added that the US may also consider a unilateral release of oil from its strategic reserves to ease supply pressures.

Iran has restricted the Strait of Hormuz, severely disrupting energy flow through the critical waterway, which in turn has driven up the prices. 

Also read: Will Hormuz crossings cost more? Iran considers tolls on global shipping route

Bessent said earlier this week that the US allowed the Iranian oil tankers to move through the Strait as it wanted the world to be well-supplied.

Hormuz remains a critical chokepoint for global oil trade, handling a significant share of the world’s crude and liquefied gas shipments.

Bessent said the administration has prepared a coordinated supply response to cushion any disruption around the Strait of Hormuz. He said the US had already moved to “unsanction” Russian oil cargoes already on the water, estimated at about 130 million barrels, and could take a similar step for roughly 140 million barrels of Iranian oil in floating storage.

“In essence, by the time we unsanctioned the floating Iranian oil, we would have intervened, and we would have created about 260 million excess barrels of energy,” Bessent said, describing it as a “physical intervention” rather than a financial one.

The treasury secretary said that volume could help offset a temporary deficit of 10 million to 14 million barrels per day if shipping through the strait is disrupted, providing roughly three weeks of market stabilisation.

He also referred to a coordinated Strategic Petroleum Reserve release approved last week and said further action remains an option. “The largest coordinated SPR release in history, 400 million barrels, was approved last week,” he said. “The US could unilaterally do another SPR release to keep the price down.”