Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined a plan Thursday to turn what has become an Iranian oil burden into a global market asset, by temporarily lifting sanctions on Iranian crude stranded on tankers in international waters. Bessent said the administration is considering the measure as part of its strategy to bring down oil prices above $100 per barrel caused by Iran’s Strait of Hormuz closure.
Iran’s Hormuz blockade has created a significant and sustained daily oil supply deficit of between 10 and 14 million barrels, a disruption that has now persisted for close to two weeks. The resulting price surge has placed economic pressure on oil-importing nations worldwide and has generated urgent demands for supply-side interventions of sufficient scale.
Bessent identified the approximately 140 million barrels of Iranian crude stranded on tankers — oil originally destined for China — as a burden that could be transformed into an asset through a targeted temporary waiver. By redirecting this oil to global markets, the administration would effectively turn Iran’s stranded supply into a tool for managing the very crisis Iran created.
The Treasury has previously executed a similar transformation with Russian oil, issuing a waiver that converted approximately 130 million barrels of stranded Russian crude into global market supply. An additional unilateral US Strategic Petroleum Reserve release beyond the G7’s 400 million barrel commitment is also in the works, with the administration ruling out any financial market intervention.
Experts raised questions about the transformation concept. Sanctions compliance professionals and national security analysts warned that turning Iranian oil into a global market asset would simultaneously convert it into a source of revenue for the Iranian government, providing funds for military activities and proxy support. Critics argued the transformation is incomplete — it converts the oil’s market status but cannot convert the financial benefit away from Tehran.