Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Saturday that oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz had returned to pre-conflict levels, excluding Iranian barrels.
Bessent Says Iran ‘Cannot Live Without Exports’
In a post on the social media platform X on Saturday, Bessent said that the “Strait of Hormuz transit levels are back to pre-conflict levels minus Iranian barrels.” He then said that the world can “live without Iranian oil,” but warned that “Iran cannot live without oil exports.”
The U.S., under operation Economic Outcast, imposed sanctions and restrictions on Iran, threatening countries, institutions and banks with sanctions if they were found to be engaged with Tehran.
Late last month, Bessent had said that Iran’s threats to disrupt the flow of oil through the Middle East had failed and that the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf had surpassed pre-war levels.
Increased Oil Production
In a separate post, Bessent also touted increased U.S. oil production, saying that Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda was “cutting through red tape” and putting U.S. ahead of “radical climate ideology.”
The Treasury Secretary then said that the “U.S. crude oil and natural gas output increased by 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day when compared with the last year of the Biden Administration.”
Joe Kent Urges Trump to Leave Middle East
Meanwhile, Trump’s former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent urged Trump to pull out of the Middle East and declare victory over Iran, warning of severe consequences for ordinary Americans if there were any escalations in the conflict.
Kent also said that pulling out of the war would render Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz ineffective, as it would have no incentive to strike vessels.
On the other hand, Iran’s Security Chief Mohsen Rezaee warned against escalation in the war, saying that the “aggressor” could suffer “terrible blows” should there be any strikes.
Oil Movement
Oil prices slipped at press time, with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Futures contracts ending in December falling 4.21% to $99.74, while Brent futures contracts ending in January 2027 were also down 4.28% to $108.57 at press time.
Oil ETFs too were down during pre-market trading on Monday, with the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSE: UCO) ETF falling 4.05% to $64.55. The United States Oil Fund (NYSE: USO) ETF slipped 3.45% to $162.99.
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