Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed Iranian crude oil as a short-term bridge Thursday, revealing the administration is considering temporarily lifting sanctions on approximately 140 million barrels of Iranian crude stranded on tankers to provide market support while the broader US campaign against Iran’s Hormuz blockade continues. Bessent said the bridge would provide roughly two weeks of price relief at levels above $100 per barrel.
The concept of a short-term bridge reflects the administration’s view that the Hormuz crisis is a temporary disruption requiring temporary supply solutions. Iran’s blockade has been removing between 10 and 14 million barrels of daily supply from global markets for close to two weeks, creating a supply gap that a bridge of sufficient size might help span until the crisis is resolved.
Bessent said the Iranian crude on tankers, originally heading toward Chinese buyers, has the right characteristics for a short-term bridge — it is already at sea, requires no new production, and involves a volume of approximately 140 million barrels that the Treasury estimates would span the most critical two weeks of the crisis.
The Treasury has previously used comparable bridge structures, 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 coordinated commitment is also being planned, while the administration has firmly ruled out any financial market intervention.
Independent experts questioned both the bridge’s construction and its likely durability. Compliance professionals and national security analysts warned that the bridge would generate oil revenues for the Iranian regime that could fund military activities and proxy support, potentially prolonging the crisis the bridge is meant to span. Critics argued that a bridge built on enabling an adversary’s oil revenues may carry structural weaknesses that undermine its purpose before the two-week span is complete.