The United States is allowing Iranian oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC in an interview Monday.
“Iranian ships have already been leaving and we’ve let that happen to supply the rest of the world,” Bessent told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.
Tanker traffic through the Strait has plummeted as Iran attacks commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf. But the Islamic Republic has continued to export millions of barrels of oil through the narrow sea route despite the large U.S. Navy presence in the region. Iran exports around 1.5 million barrels per day.
The Trump administration believes cross-Strait tanker traffic will increase before the U.S. Navy and allied forces begin escorting commercial vessels, Bessent said. Tankers supplying India have transited the Strait, he said. The United States believes some Chinese ships are also leaving the Gulf, he said.
“We think there will be a natural opening that the Iranians are letting out, and for now we are okay with that. We want the world to be well supplied,” Bessent said.
The Strait, which connects the Gulf to the global market, is the world’s most important oil trade route. About 20% of the world’s oil supply passed through this narrow waterway before the war.
Oil prices have risen about 40% since the United States and Israel attacked Iran three weeks ago. The war has caused the biggest oil supply disruption in history as cross-strait exports have collapsed, according to the International Energy Agency.
Brent oil prices, the international benchmark, were around $102 per barrel on Monday. US oil prices were around $95 per barrel.
The Treasury secretary said oil prices should fall “much less” than $80 a barrel once the war is over. Bessent said he doesn’t know when the war will end, but “the world will be safer and we will be better supplied.”
Bessent threw cold water on market rumors that the administration might intervene in oil futures trading.
“We haven’t done that,” the Treasury secretary said. It is unclear what authority the United States could use to take such action, he said.
