Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted on Thursday that the U.S. was carrying out its emergency plan as energy prices soared in response to the war in Iran.
The top Trump economic official appeared on Fox News as attacks on refineries have escalated with far-reaching consequences.
“We had a break the glass plan across the administration and at Treasury. We unsanctioned Russian oil,” Bessent said on Fox News. “We created supply that is beyond the Strait of Hormuz, so we anticipated this.”
“In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. It’s about 140 million barrels,” Bessent added.
He said it’s many weeks of supply that would have all gone to China, but argued the U.S. would be “using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign.”
His comments about the “break glass” plan and lifting sanctions on Iranian oil come as Brent crude oil, the international benchmark for crude oil, soared to nearly $120 a barrel on Thursday before easing slightly.
Americans are now spending roughly half a billion more every day at the pump than they did right before the war began, according to GasBuddy.com, as gas prices break records.
The average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. hit $3.90 on Thursday, while diesel hit $5.09 per gallon. The average price of gas could hit $4 per gallon next week.
The U.S. is preparing to potentially lift sanctions on Iran, which comes after the Trump administration announced last week it was temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil as the strikes on Iran continued.
But the move did little to calm markets, as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway, remains at a near standstill in the Middle East, while Iran also strikes at energy targets in the region.
The energy crisis escalated this week as Israel struck the South Pars gas field in Iran, the largest gas field in the world. Iran responded by striking a major plant in Qatar.
The CEO of QatarEnergy told Reuters on Thursday that Iran’s attack caused an estimated $20 billion in annual lost revenue and knocked out 17 percent of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas exporting, threatening supplies to Europe and Asia.
Asked about lifting sanctions on Iranian oil on Thursday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. would do “whatever is necessary” before cutting himself off to tout the Dow recently hitting 50,000 a few weeks ago. That happened before he launched the war in Iran.
The Dow on Thursday dropped another 400 points as energy prices continued to climb. The Dow has lost more than 3,000 points since the war began.
