U.S. allows Iranian oil tankers through Strait of Hormuz, says Bessent
The United States has allowed Iranian oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday.
“Iranian ships have already sailed, and we’ve allowed that to happen so the rest of the world can be supplied,” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in Paris. The Treasury Secretary is in France for trade talks with China.
Tanker traffic in the Bosphorus decreased due to Iran’s attack on commercial ships in the Persian Gulf. But the Islamic Republic continued to export millions of barrels of oil through the narrow sea despite the large US Navy presence in the region. Iran exports approximately 1.5 million barrels per day.
Bessent said the Trump administration believes tanker traffic in the Bosphorus will increase before the US Navy and allied forces begin escorting commercial ships. He said tankers supplying supplies to India passed through the Bosphorus. The US said it believed some Chinese ships also emerged from the Gulf.
“We think there will be a natural opening that the Iranians will release, and we see no harm in that for now. We want the world to be well fed,” Bessent said. he said. President Donald Trump is pressuring countries that rely on the Strait for oil to help the United States protect its tankers from attacks by Iran.
The Bosphorus, which connects the Gulf to the global market, is the most important trade route for oil in the world. Before the war, about 20% of global oil supplies passed through the narrow waterway.
Oil prices have risen nearly 40 percent since the United States and Israel attacked Iran two weeks ago. According to the report, the war triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history, with exports through the Bosphorus collapsing. International Energy Agency.
Brent oil pricesOil prices, the international benchmark, were hovering around $102 per barrel on Monday. US oil prices It was trading around $95 per barrel.
The treasury secretary said oil prices should fall “much lower” than $80 a barrel after the war is over. Bessent said he did not know when the war would end, but “the world will be safer and we will be provided with better supplies.”
Bessent threw cold water on market rumors that the administration might intervene in oil futures trading.
“We did not do that,” said the Treasury Secretary. He said it was unclear what authority the United States could use to take such action.
