Thus, according to Bessent, the United States wants to eliminate the oil shortage that appeared after the start of the military operation against Iran. He also recalled that the United States eased sanctions against India and allowed the country's oil refineries to buy Russian oil, “which is already at sea,” for 30 days.
“We can lift sanctions on other Russian oil. There are hundreds of millions of barrels of oil on the water that are sanctioned, and essentially by lifting sanctions, the Treasury Department can create supply, and we are looking at that possibility,” he said.
Bessent did not specify what kind of sanctions he was talking about.
Context
On October 22, 2025, the US Treasury imposed sanctions against the Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil. American President Donald Trump explained these restrictions with the hope that they would encourage the illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate peace in Ukraine.
Against the background of the start of the Israeli and US military operation against Iran, which began on February 28, 2026, Bloomberg warned that in response to the escalation, Tehran was considering the possibility of closing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important routes for global oil trade. It supplies about a quarter of the world's seaborne oil supplies. Every day, millions of barrels of crude oil and petroleum products pass through it from the Middle East to Asia, Europe and the United States. Most exporters in the region, in particular Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iran itself, do not have a viable alternative to this route.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz then practically stopped, and already on March 2, at the opening of trading, the price of Brent oil rose by 13%, to over $82 per barrel. Tehran said the strait remained open but claimed responsibility for the attacks on the three tankers.
