By Joseph De Avila

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. may remove sanctions in the coming days from Iranian oil already at sea to relieve pressure from rising prices during the war in the Middle East. The move would free up about 140 million barrels of oil, Bessent said Thursday in an interview with Fox Business.

"That's about 10 days to two weeks of supply that the Iranians had been pushing out that would have all gone to China," Bessent said. However, it was unclear exactly how such sanctions removal would operate, how Iran would receive the funds or what specific assets would be unblocked.

He also said the U.S. was considering a release of more oil from its strategic reserves and that Japan may do the same from its own stockpiles. Earlier this month, the U.S. said it would release 172 million barrels of oil from its emergency stockpiles.

The U.S. said last week it would temporarily allow countries to purchase Russian oil already at sea to boost supply and ease price pressures. Indian refiners quickly purchased significant volumes of Russian Urals crude and some Russian Far East barrels for March and April arrivals, according to Kpler data. Other Asian buyers, including Chinese state-owned refiner Sinopec, have moved early to lock in shipments for May.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2026 10:26 ET (14:26 GMT)

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