Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States may lift sanctions on Iranian oil that's already in transit to ease gas prices. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
March 19 (UPI) -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that the United States may lift sanctions on Iranian oil already in transit to slow rising gas prices during the war in Iran.
Bessent told Fox Business that about 140 million barrels of oil would be released.
"That's about 10 days to two weeks of supply that the Iranians had been pushing out that would have all gone to China," he said. "In essence, 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."
About 20% of the world's oil normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, but oil can't pass safely through the strait while the attacks against Iran continue.
