US energy secretary: US won’t hit Iran energy sector, disruptions to last ‘a few weeks’

The United States will spare Iran’s energy infrastructure as it wages war alongside Israel against the Islamic Republic, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright says.

With oil prices rising dramatically, he tells CNN that disruptions to the petroleum and gas industry will be short-lived: “Worst case, that’s a few weeks. That’s not months,” he says.

Israel attacked oil storage facilities yesterday in and around Tehran, sparking huge fires in the first such attacks reported since the war started last weekend. Wright seems to downplay them.

“These are Israeli strikes, these are local fuel depots to fill up the gas tank,” Wright says.

He adds: “The US is targeting zero energy infrastructure. There are no plans to target Iran’s oil industry, their natural gas industry, or anything about their energy industry.”

The war has all but shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and about 20% of liquefied natural gas usually transit.

Energy markets have been riled by this disruption and oil prices have shot up. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark for oil, rose 12% just on Friday and is up 36% in a week.

Iran accounts for about 4% of world oil production, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Its oil industry is subject to international sanctions, but some oil is still exported, mainly to China, oil industry data shows.