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.
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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.
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“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, which carries about 20 per cent of the global oil supply.
“This is a temporary chokehold,” he said.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that President Donald Trump has called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz by military force, but his campaign for naval support from NATO allies did not yield the desired result.
Displeased with their refusal to send warships to the Strait, Mr Trump on Monday lashed out at the NATO allies, describing their alliance as “a one-way street” that gives nothing back to the US.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street – We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” he wrote on social media.
Attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East on Wednesday sent oil prices soaring.
READ ALSO: US/Israel-Iran War (Day 20): War threatens global gas supply
PREMIUM TIMES reported that oil prices rose above $110 a barrel on Wednesday.
The Brent crude oil benchmark rose to $112 a barrel early Thursday in Asian trading. In Europe, oil prices surged 6 per cent, and about 20 per cent in the UK.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Iran’s attack wiped out 17 per cent of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas capacity.
Two of Qatar’s 14 LNG production trains, along with one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) plants, have been damaged.
As a result, 12.8 million tonnes per year of LNG capacity will be removed from the market for an estimated three to five years while repairs are carried out.
The attack is estimated to cost the country around $20 billion in lost annual revenue.
