“They were going to substitute it with U.S. oil,” he said of India on Fox Business’s Kudlow. “But to ease the temporary gap of oil around the world, we have given them permission to accept the Russian oil. We may un-sanction other Russian oil.”

“The other thing Treasury can do here … is there are hundreds of millions of sanctioned barrels of sanctioned crude on the water. And in essence, by un-sanctioning them, Treasury can create supply,” Bessent continued. “And we are looking at that. We are going to keep a cadence of announcing measures to bring relief to the market during this conflict.”

Oil and gas prices have been rising throughout the week since the start of “Operation Epic Fury” last Saturday morning. The increase is the result of Iran tightening its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping lane through which 20% of the world’s daily oil demand passes.

On Friday, the U.S. crude oil benchmark surpassed $90 per barrel for the first time since September 2023. A week ago, the cost per barrel was about $20 less. Gas prices are also rising quickly. As of Friday, the AAA national average was $3.32 per gallon. That is up about 34 cents from the prior week.

After the Treasury Department issued a license allowing India to temporarily purchase Russian oil without repercussions, multiple Senate Democrats criticized President Donald Trump for attacking Iran and claimed Russia would use the easing of U.S. sanctions to its advantage in a separate conflict with Ukraine.

“This self-made global energy shock is serving to enrich Putin and line his war coffers by offering him windfall profits,” reads the statement, signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the top Democrats on several committees.

“Instead of changing course, the President is only making this situation worse by handing Putin, his shadow fleet, and traders still dealing in sanctioned oil a free pass to increase oil shipments to Russia’s second-largest importer,” it states. “The new channels for evasion the President is opening, coupled with dramatically higher global energy prices, are giving Putin a huge financial boost and the means to continue his bloody war in Ukraine.”

Senate Democrats also raised concerns about reports that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran about the position of U.S. forces in the Middle East.

In response to the reports, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubted that the apparent coordination between Russia and Iran would be very successful.

“It clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them,” she said on Friday.

WHITE HOUSE DOWNPLAYS RUSSIAN ASSISTANCE FOR IRAN: ‘IT CLEARLY IS NOT MAKING A DIFFERENCE’

War Secretary Pete Hegseth also addressed the reports in an upcoming episode of 60 Minutes, saying Trump is “well aware of who’s talking to who.”

“No one’s putting us in danger,” Hegseth said. “We’re putting the other guys in danger, and that’s our job. So we’re not concerned about that. We mitigate it as we need to. Our commanders factor all of this, but the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.”