Oil prices have dropped for two straight days following previous surges, having hit four-year highs on Monday before logging the biggest single-day percentage drop since 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n Oil prices plunged on Tuesday when Secretary of Energy Chris Wright claimed in an X post that the U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent Crude dropped to around $81 per barrel, according to MarketWatch<\/a>. <\/span>However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt corrected that claim in her Tuesday afternoon press briefing, which sent oil prices back up, with Brent Crude closing around $91 per barrel.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can confirm that the U.S. Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time, though, of course, that\u2019s an option that the president has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary at the appropriate time,\u201d Leavitt said.<\/span><\/p>\n Using the U.S. Navy to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world\u2019s oil travels, is just one of the options the Trump administration has announced that would bring down prices.<\/span><\/p>\n The administration ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to <\/span>offer<\/span><\/a> political risk insurance to tankers operating in the Gulf. Insurance policies covering a vessel traveling through the strait have reportedly jumped by as much as 37.5%<\/a>, while others were canceled altogether. In addition, the Treasury Department lifted oil sanctions \u2014 most notably on Friday, when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a temporary <\/span>30-day lift<\/span><\/a> allowing India to buy Russian oil.<\/span><\/p>\n Senate Democrats criticized the decision to lift oil sanctions, writing in a statement, \u201cNow is not the time to clear the way for sales for Russian oil majors and Russian-owned and shadow fleet vessels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Bessent argued that the lifted sanctions were narrow in scope and would not provide a substantial financial benefit to the Russian government. Russia, the United States, and Saudi Arabia lead the world in oil production.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n