US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said oil could fall to $50 or even $40 per barrel after military operations involving Iran conclude, as new production adds to global supply. Brent crude traded above $95 per barrel on Friday, approaching July’s peak levels, while West Texas Intermediate hovered near $91 after US-Iran military exchanges lifted energy prices. Bessent said the relationship between oil prices and interest rates has reached unprecedented levels, arguing that lower crude would ease inflation and pull bond yields down. Ten-year US Treasury yields reached their highest levels since 2023 earlier this week, while traders price a 58% chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September. Bessent gave no timetable for the conflict’s end, which a Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee described as stalled. Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global is evaluating a potential reduction of about $75 billion in US Treasury holdings, with proceeds potentially shifting into higher-yielding US agency securities. Bessent said the move would seek better returns rather than reflect a loss of confidence in US assets.