US Considers Lifting Sanctions on Stranded Iranian Oil

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the country may soon remove sanctions from Iranian oil stranded on tankers to boost global supplies and reduce prices. The move would release around 140 million barrels of oil, which is equivalent to 10-14 days' worth of supply.

Bessent stated that this action would help keep oil prices down for the next two weeks as Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping and attacked tankers. The US Treasury took a similar step recently by allowing the sale of sanctioned Russian oil, which added 130 million barrels to global supplies.

Bessent also mentioned that the US would take further actions to increase supply, including a unilateral release of stocks from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve above last week's coordinated joint G7 release. He emphasized that the goal is to make up for the 10-14 million barrel-per-day deficit caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.