US weighs easing some Iran oil sanctions, authorizes $16.5B in Gulf arms sales

As energy markets grow increasingly volatile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States could lift sanctions on Iranian oil at sea in order to put downward pressure on prices. The move would free up about 140 million barrels of oil, Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business on Thursday.

While Iran stepped up its attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure, oil prices neared $120 a barrel early Thursday, and the United States announced plans to sell more than $16.5 billion of radar systems, air defense equipment and fighter aircraft weaponry to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan.

Earlier on Thursday, the Saudi Defense Ministry said that an Iranian drone crashed into Saudi Aramco’s Samref refinery in the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, a key energy lifeline for the kingdom amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE also recorded fresh Iranian strikes on energy assets. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters that Iran’s Wednesday strike on Ras Laffan, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export facility, took out roughly 17% of the country’s LNG export capacity after it damaged two liquefaction trains and a gas-to-liquids facility.

Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, told CNN that his government was ready “to enter into immediate negotiations with Israel,” as the death toll in Lebanon from Israel's military campaign in the country surpassed 1,000 people. As Israel began ground operations in southern Lebanon earlier this week, the Israeli military's evacuation orders have expanded to cover an estimated 14% of Lebanese territory.