Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the potential Iranian crude oil release Thursday as a measure designed to shield global economic growth from the damage caused by Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Bessent revealed the administration is considering temporarily lifting sanctions on approximately 140 million barrels of Iranian crude stranded on tankers, to address oil prices above $100 per barrel that threaten growth trajectories worldwide.
Iran’s Hormuz blockade has been threatening global growth since it began nearly two weeks ago, removing between 10 and 14 million barrels of daily supply from world markets and driving crude prices to levels that historically correlate with economic slowdowns. Shielding global growth from this threat has become a central objective of the administration’s emergency supply response.
Bessent said the Iranian crude on tankers, originally heading toward Chinese buyers, represents an available shield for global growth if sanctions are temporarily waived. A targeted waiver could redirect approximately 140 million barrels to global markets, providing roughly two weeks of price relief during the US campaign to resolve the Hormuz crisis.
The Treasury has previously deployed comparable growth shields, including a waiver for Russian oil that added approximately 130 million barrels to world supply. An additional unilateral US Strategic Petroleum Reserve release beyond the G7’s 400 million barrel joint commitment is also being planned, while the administration has categorically ruled out financial market intervention.
Economists and policy experts assessed the growth shield framing critically. They acknowledged that sustained prices above $100 per barrel pose a genuine threat to global growth, but warned that enabling Iranian oil revenues — the cost of the proposed shield — would provide the Tehran regime with funds for military activities and proxy support. Critics argued that shielding global growth through a measure that financially strengthens an adversary creates a different kind of growth risk, one tied to the prolongation of the underlying geopolitical conflict.