BlockBeats News, August 14th. Local time on Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Benson announced that the Trump administration plans to unveil a new round of economic measures against Iran next week, aiming to force Tehran to compromise by further strengthening financial pressure. Benson stated that the new measures will be combined with the ongoing Iran port maritime blockade, forming an "unprecedented" combination of economic isolation and maritime blockade, preventing any goods from entering or leaving Iranian ports.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Hedges also stated on the same day that the U.S. military has the capability to maintain the blockade long-term and can "indefinitely sustain such a blockade" through ship rotations. Iran has not shown a sign of full compromise, insisting on the lifting of economic sanctions, the release of frozen assets, and refusing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until conditions are met.

Meanwhile, the risk of regional conflict continues to escalate. The UAE reported that two oil tankers were attacked on Thursday while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, blaming Iran for the attack; Iran-backed Houthi forces were also reported to have attacked a Saudi Aramco oil facility.

On the energy market front, the IEA expects global oil supply to decrease by around 4.3 million barrels per day this year, up from the previous estimate of 3.7 million barrels per day a month ago. Based on the current actual supply gap of around 5 million barrels per day, the about 1.5 billion barrels of oil stocks managed by the IEA theoretically could support approximately 300 days. However, only about 900 million barrels that can be truly allocated by governments may support around 180 days.

The U.S. SPR inventory has fallen to its lowest level since 1983. Calculated based on an actual available stock of about 200 million barrels, the cushioning capacity may be only about 40 days. Global diesel and jet fuel inventories are also at five-year lows, further fueling concerns in the market about sustained disruptions to energy supply.