As conflict in West Asia strains the global oil supply chain, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration was working with the world’s biggest oil producers, consumers and refiners to maintain stability in energy markets.
“The United States is the largest and most powerful economy in the world. Under the leadership of @POTUS, we are working with the world’s largest producers, consumers and refiners to maintain stability in global energy markets while eliminating threats to our safety and security,” he said on social media.
“This is the common goal we are all working towards, and we thank our international partners who share the same goal,” he said.
Bessent thanked the US’s international partners for sharing the “same goal” in remarks that appeared conciliatory and reflected some softening of Washington’s usual commanding tone.
The US Treasury Secretary’s latest comments contradicted his remarks on granting India a 30-day exemption to buy Russian oil.
In an interview with Fox News, Bessent said the world will benefit from President Trump’s oil policies.
The US Treasury agreed to “let our allies in India start buying Russian oil that was already on the water,” he said.
“Our allies in India have been good actors and stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil earlier. As we work to ease the temporary shortfall in oil supplies around the world, we have temporarily allowed them to receive Russian oil that is already on the water,” he wrote on social media, sharing highlights from the interview.
“This deliberately short-term measure will not provide a significant financial benefit to the Russian government because it only allows transactions involving oil already stranded at sea,” Bessent said.
The government faced criticism last week after Bessent on Friday announced a temporary 30-day waiver of US sanctions to “allow” Indian refiners to buy Russian crude.
Following Bessent’s remarks, the Congress party accused the government of allowing the US to dictate the country’s foreign and economic policy.
