The Trump administration lifted sanctions on Iranian oil stuck at sea on Friday evening as the conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues to hike up global energy costs.
“Today, the Department of the Treasury is issuing a narrowly tailored, short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil currently stranded at sea,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced in a social media post.
The relief order is in effect through April 19 and only applies to Iranian barrels that are already at sea, according to the Treasury Department’s announcement.
Bessent said on Friday that this move will free up an additional 140 million barrels of oil for the global market “to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran.”
“This temporary, short-term authorization is strictly limited to oil that is already in transit and does not allow new purchases or production,” Bessent said. “Further, Iran will have difficulty accessing any revenue generated and the United States will continue to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system.”
The secretary had previously indicated that President Trump would temporarily remove barriers to the sale of sanctioned Iranian oil in a Thursday interview with Fox Business.
“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury,” Bessent said.
The decision announced Friday night received immediate pushback.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the move “Sickeningly, shamefully stupid” and accused the administration of helping Tehran with “fueling their war machines with windfall cash.”
“A minimal benefit to oil prices, but huge boost to sworn enemies,” the Democrat wrote in an X post.
The Atlantic Council’s director of its Iraq Initiative, Victoria Taylor, also condemned the move in a statement posted on X.
“Across multiple Republican and Democratic administrations, our policy has been to find additional ways to prevent the sale of Iranian oil,” Taylor wrote. “This is unfathomable to me to be simultaneously at war with Iran and waiving sanctions on Iran.”
Iranian counterstrikes in the Strait of Hormuz have effectively halted the flow of oil through the major trading passage, resulting in a shortage in global energy supplies. The average price of regular gas in the U.S. on Friday was up by nearly a dollar from a month ago, according to AAA.
The Trump administration has taken several steps to alleviate the economic impacts felt by American consumers during these ongoing military operations, including lifting sanctions on Russian oil stuck at sea. Trump has also authorized the release of barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and has tried to stimulate domestic oil production.