𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗜𝗟 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨’𝗩𝗘 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗗.

This is not improvisation. This is a plan that was built before the first strike was launched.

Bessent called it a “break the glass” strategy — a coordinated administration-wide response to the energy disruption everyone knew was coming when Operation Epic Fury began. Here’s what they did and what’s coming:

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭 — 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗶𝗹. Treasury unsanctioned Russian oil already on the water — approximately 130 million barrels of floating storage sitting beyond the Strait of Hormuz. Supply created. Price stabilized. Before the war started.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮 — 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗶𝗹. Here’s where it gets breathtaking. Iran had been quietly pushing roughly 140 million barrels of sanctioned oil out onto the water — all of it headed to China. Bessent’s move: unsanction it. Release it to the global market. That’s 10 to 14 days of global supply — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗼𝗶𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻. In his words: 𝘐𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴. Oil that was supposed to fund the regime and go to China is instead being turned into a weapon against the regime’s leverage over global energy prices.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯 — 𝗦𝗣𝗥. The largest coordinated Strategic Petroleum Reserve release in history — 400 million barrels — was approved last week by IEA member countries. More unilateral U.S. SPR releases are available if needed.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁. Brent crude and WTI — which had been trading in lockstep — have now substantially diverged. Why? Because the United States, thanks to Trump’s energy independence push, is a net oil exporter. The Strait of Hormuz disruption 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮. It does not hurt us the same way. When Trump tells European allies to send ships to patrol the Strait, his underlying message is blunt: 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘪𝘭. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵.

Every lever Bessent described was pre-planned. The Russian oil. The Iranian oil. The SPR. The energy independence baseline. None of this was improvised when the Strait of Hormuz got disrupted — it was engineered in advance so the disruption couldn’t be used as a weapon against us.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱.

12:27 AM · Mar 20, 2026

X LINK https://i.fixupx.com/MichaelARothman/status/2034849159887692200?s=20

𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗜𝗟 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗩𝗘 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗗.

This is not improvisation. This is a plan that was built before the first strike was launched.

Bessent called it a "break the… pic.twitter.com/gA07Pb2ywj

— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) March 20, 2026

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Notes to Readers:

Nevertheless, today (20 March 2026) I paid $3.99 per gallon for Regular. Oil companies are cashing in on a fake oil shortage.

Any trips will be short until this nonsense has ended.

Eliza