Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used a recent television interview to argue that the US can gradually restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz while also stabilizing a global oil market he described in contradictory terms as both broadly supplied and still short by 10 million to 12 million barrels a day.
Bessent said that “over time” the US would retake control of the strait and that freedom of navigation would return through either US escorts or a multinational escort structure.
He did not offer a timeline, force size, or trigger for when escorts would begin.
On supply, Bessent said the oil market is “in deficit about 10 to 12 million barrels a day” and that the administration is working to close that gap. He said the IEA’s coordinated strategic reserve release contributes about 4 million barrels a day.
He also said the Trump administration moved to unsanction Russian and Iranian oil that was already on the water. Bessent argued that allowing those cargoes to move did not provide “extra money” to either regime because the barrels had already been sold or committed.
When asked whether Iranian-backed Houthi activity could renew disruption in the Red Sea, Bessent said the “Houthis have been very quiet so far”, and characterized their ballistic missile launches at Israel on Saturday as Israel-specific.
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