- The Treasury Secretary stated that the U.S. could do another release of its Strategic Petroleum Reserves to keep a lid on crude oil prices.
- He also denied that the U.S. Treasury would intervene in the oil futures market.
- Bessent also added that he expects a global coalition to eventually escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, pointing to NATO allies and others in Asia.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly stated on Thursday that the United States will use Iranian crude oil barrels against the country to tame rising crude oil prices.
During an interview with Fox Business, Bessent stated that Iran currently has about 140 million barrels of crude oil loaded on ships on the seas.
“In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. We will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign,” he said during the interview.
Bessent’s remarks come amid a continued rise in crude oil prices. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures maturing in May were up more than 1%, hovering around $96 a barrel at the time of writing. Brent crude futures expiring in May gained about 3% to hover around $111 a barrel, after inching close to the 52-week high of $119.5 per barrel.
The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) fell about 2%, while the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO) was down by nearly 1% at the time of writing.
US Could Do Another SPR Release, Says Bessent
The Treasury Secretary stated that the U.S. could do another release of its Strategic Petroleum Reserves to keep a lid on crude oil prices. He also denied that the U.S. Treasury would intervene in the oil futures market.
Bessent stated that following the release of 400 million barrels of crude oil from strategic reserves in coordination with the International Energy Agency (IEA) last week, other countries could do additional releases.
Bessent Expects Global Coalition For Strait Of Hormuz Escorts
Bessent also added that he expects a global coalition to eventually escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, pointing to NATO allies and others in Asia. “It would be very disappointing for those who benefit the most not to do something,” he added.
The Treasury Secretary also stated that the U.S. is not attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure on the Kharg island, while only undertaking precision strikes against military targets in the area.
Meanwhile, U.S. equities declined in Thursday morning’s trade. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was down 0.4%; the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) fell 0.47%; and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) declined 0.58%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits regarding the S&P 500 ETF was in the ‘extremely bearish’ territory.
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