Bessent says the U.S. is letting Iranian oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the U.S. has been permitting Iranian oil tankers to move through the Strait of Hormuz.

"The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and we've let that happen to supply the rest of the world," Bessent said on CNBC. He said tankers supplying India have already passed through the strait, and that the U.S. believes some Chinese vessels are also making it out of the Gulf.

"We think that there will be a natural opening that the Iranians are letting out, and for now we're fine with that. We want the world to be well supplied," Bessent said.

Iran exports roughly 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, according to CNBC. Commercial shipping through the waterway has dropped sharply as Iran has struck vessels in the Persian Gulf — yet Tehran has kept exporting oil through the strait even with a substantial U.S. naval force operating nearby.

Bessent said he expects volumes through the strait to pick up on their own before any formal naval escort operation gets underway. President Donald Trump has been pressing countries that rely on the strait to join a protection effort. The situation has pushed Brent crude above $100 a barrel and sent gas prices up roughly 25% since the war began.

On prices, Bessent was direct: He said oil should fall "much lower" than $80 a barrel once the conflict ends. Bessent offered no timeline for the war's end, but said the outcome would mean "the world will be safer and we will be better supplied."

Brent crude was trading around $102 a barrel Monday morning. WTI was near $95.

The treasury secretary also pushed back on reports that the White House was weighing a direct intervention in oil futures markets. "We haven't done that," he told CNBC. He noted that the administration had not identified a legal mechanism that would permit such a move.