US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that Washington might ‘unsanction’ Iranian oil that was already being shipped, as energy prices soared due to the US-Israel war on Iran.
Bessent’s comments to Fox Business came as oil and gas prices made a renewed surge after Iran hit the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas facility in Qatar and threatened to destroy the region’s energy infrastructure.
Bessent added in the interview that the US government could also release more oil from its strategic reserves.
The administration of the US president, Donald Trump, has been scrambling to rein in rocketing energy costs after US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
Tehran’s retaliation brought commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a virtual halt, snarling energy supply chains.
Around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the critical waterway during peacetime.
Already, international benchmark Brent surged 10 per cent earlier before easing to a 5 per cent increase at $112.76 per barrel.
Recently, the United States also temporarily allowed the sale of sanctioned Russian oil that is at sea. On Wednesday, Trump temporarily waived a century-old maritime shipping law in an attempt to help ease energy prices.
