Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the administration is seriously considering a temporary waiver on Iranian crude oil stranded on tankers to prevent further economic damage from the oil price spike triggered by Iran’s Strait of Hormuz closure. Bessent outlined the measure as part of a multi-faceted emergency supply response designed to bring prices down from levels above $100 per barrel.
The Hormuz blockade has removed between 10 and 14 million barrels of daily oil supply from global markets for close to two weeks, creating a sustained price shock that has affected businesses, consumers, and governments worldwide. The administration has been under significant pressure to find supply-side solutions capable of providing meaningful and rapid price relief.
Bessent confirmed that approximately 140 million barrels of Iranian crude are stranded on tankers in international waters, oil originally heading toward Chinese buyers. A targeted temporary sanctions waiver could redirect this oil to global markets, he said, providing roughly two weeks of supply relief during the US campaign against the Hormuz blockade.
The plan is modeled on a Treasury waiver for Russian oil that added approximately 130 million barrels to global supply. Additional supply from a unilateral US Strategic Petroleum Reserve release beyond the G7’s 400 million barrel joint commitment is also in development, while the administration has committed to avoiding any intervention in financial oil market instruments.
Experts from the sanctions and national security fields raised serious concerns. They warned that allowing Iranian oil revenues, even within a tightly scoped temporary waiver, would provide the Tehran regime with financial resources to sustain military operations and fund proxy forces across the region. Critics argued the plan prioritizes short-term economic stabilization over long-term strategic coherence in the US approach to Iran.