Kudlow: US sanctions on Iran oil had ‘no material impact’ on markets

President Trump’s top economic adviser said Tuesday that he does not think recently imposed sanctions on Iranian oil sales will drive up U.S. gas prices.

Larry Kudlow said in remarks at the National Press Club that new U.S. penalties on purchasers of Iranian oil “had no material impact” on global markets. His comments came a day after oil prices spiked to a six-month high on Monday.

{mosads}“The world is awash in oil,” Kudlow said, in an attempt to tamp down fears that cutting off Iranian oil from the market could cause U.S. gasoline prices to rise. “The center of the world energy system is the United States. We’re the driver.”

Trump announced Monday that the U.S. would not renew waivers set to expire in May that had allowed certain nations to purchase oil from Iran without facing penalties under U.S. sanctions.

Trump reimposed a slew of financial sanctions on Iran last year when he pulled the U.S. out of the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. The 2015 agreement suspended sanctions targeting the country’s economy, including a ban on purchasing the country’s oil, in exchange to curbs to Tehran’s nuclear program.

The administration in November granted sanctions waivers to China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Turkey, South Korea and Taiwan in a bid to ease concerns about the stability of global oil markets. The waivers allowed those countries to purchase oil from Iran without facing U.S. penalties.

“This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a statement.

The White House this week said the U.S. would partner with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two oil producing powerhouses and allies against Iran, “to take timely action to assure that global demand is met.”

Oil prices spiked Sunday amid reports of the Trump administration’s decision to lift the waivers. Brent crude futures, considered the international baseline for oil prices, rose to as high as $74.31 per barrel Monday, a 3 percent increase and the highest price in six months.