The Trump administration has decided against using the Treasury Department to trade oil futures to influence prices, opting to explore other measures amid market volatility.

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is currently ruling out a plan to deploy the US Treasury Department to trade oil futures, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Officials have discussed the possibility but believe the Treasury’s ability to meaningfully affect the market is limited, according to the report which cited a person familiar with the matter.

The decision comes as global oil prices have surged since the outbreak of conflict with Iran last Saturday, disrupting Middle East supplies. Prices fell on Thursday for the first time in six days following earlier reports that the US might intervene in the futures market.

Officials were also hesitant to immediately tap the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Bloomberg added, as it is now only about 60% full.

A senior White House official said on Thursday that the Treasury was soon expected to announce measures to combat rising energy prices. These measures were expected to include potential action involving the oil futures market, though details remained unclear.

The White House official, speaking anonymously to discuss internal matters, declined to provide specifics at that time. The White House and the Treasury did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest report outside regular business hours.

 The Sun Malaysia