March 6 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is ruling out deploying the Treasury Department to trade oil futures for now, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Officials discussed getting the Treasury Department involved, but believe its ability to meaningfully affect the market is limited, the report said.
Global oil prices have jumped since the war with Iran started on Saturday, as the spreading conflict disrupts Middle East supplies. However, prices fell on Thursday for the first time in six days following reports that the U.S. may intervene in the futures market.
Officials were also hesitant to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve right away because it was now only about 60% full, Bloomberg News added.
The White House and the Treasury did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
A senior White House official had said on Thursday that the Treasury was soon expected to announce measures aimed at combating rising energy prices in the wake of the Iran conflict, including potential action involving the oil futures market.
The details of the plan were unclear and the White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, declined to provide specifics, saying they did not want to get ahead of the Treasury announcement.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra Hudson, Elaine Hardcastle)
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