U.S. Treasury Secretary Bencze Strongly Opposes Tolling in the Strait of Hormuz
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bencze stated that the U.S. government will not tolerate anyone establishing a "tolling system" in the Strait of Hormuz.
He specifically named Oman, warning that any individuals or institutions that directly or indirectly assist in promoting tolls in the strait will face severe actions from the U.S. Treasury Department, and collaborators will also be punished.
In market mechanisms, energy traders are accelerating route adjustments and selling off Iranian-related risk exposures; event-driven funds are flowing out of potential sanctioned entities, benefiting U.S. energy companies and allied alternative suppliers, while Iran and related parties attempting to impose tolls are under pressure.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Scott Bencze has previously bet on Middle Eastern energy geopolitical risks during his time at Key Square Group, supporting extreme pressure on Iran from 2018 to 2020 and leading multiple rounds of financial sanctions in 2025-2026, having viewed the Strait of Hormuz as a core node for global oil pricing in his career.
In terms of capital pathways, the U.S. Treasury, through OFAC and secondary sanctions tools, mobilizes international banking resources to block any funding flows related to tolls, redirecting potential oil transit fee revenues that could have gone to Iran or Oman towards U.S.-led energy exports and strategic reserve procurement, achieving a forced redistribution of resources from potential challengers to the U.S. camp.
Similar to the military and financial defense of freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf during the Reagan era, and the interception of Iranian tankers around 2020; the current U.S. position in the Middle Eastern energy sector is transitioning from passive response to actively setting rules, aiming to maintain the dollar's dominance in global oil trade pricing.
Essentially, this is about the transfer of pricing power, using the threat of sanctions to prevent any third party from establishing toll nodes in the Strait of Hormuz, with the mechanism being the use of financial hegemony to cut off potential revenue sources, forcing regional energy flows to continue relying on the free passage system protected by the U.S., and avoiding Iran from regaining economic leverage.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
The right to charge on strategic thoroughfares is never about who proposes it first, but who has the ability to prohibit it.
Seemingly neutral parties that assist in undermining free passage will ultimately be punished by capital.
What truly ends intimidation is not the last warning, but continuous financial blockade.