The U.S. may soon remove sanctions from Iranian oil that is stranded on tankers to help lift global supplies and reduce prices, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday (March 19, 2026).
“In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. It’s about 140 million barrels,” Mr. Bessent told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” program.
“So, depending on how you count it, that’s 10 days to two weeks of supply,” he added.
Mr. Bessent said the addition of sanctioned Iranian oil into global supplies would help keep oil prices down for the next 10 to 14 days. Oil prices have been above $100 per barrel for much of the past two weeks as Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping and has attacked tankers.
The Treasury recently took a similar step to allow the sale of sanctioned Russian oil stranded in tankers, which Treasury said added 130 million barrels to global supplies.
