After granting India a temporary reprieve, the United States has extended a 30-day license allowing more countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea, as Washington moves to stabilise global energy markets disrupted by the ongoing Iran war.
The United States Department of the Treasury said the measure is a short-term step to expand the reach of existing oil supplies without significantly benefiting Moscow.
“@POTUS is taking decisive steps to promote stability in global energy markets and working to keep prices low as we address the threat and instability posed by the terrorist Iranian regime,” the post reads.
“To increase the global reach of existing supply, @USTreasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea. This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” it added.
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“President Trump’s pro-energy policies have driven U.S. oil and gas production to record levels, contributing to lower fuel prices for hardworking Americans. The temporary increase in oil prices is a short-term and temporary disruption that will result in a massive benefit to our nation and economy in the long-term.”
US waiver to India
The United States on Friday announced it was granting a 30-day “temporary” waiver to Indian refineries to continue its purchase of Russian energy. The development comes amid concerns of a spike in energy prices due to the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US-Israel that has also spilt over to other Gulf nations.
The announcement was made by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on X, who clarified that the measure wouldn’t help Russia make significant financial gains “as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea”.
There were 9.5 million barrels of Russian oil sitting in Asian waters as of last week, a Bloomberg report said, further adding that the waiver from the US only applies to Russian products loaded onto vessels before March 5 and expires April 4 at 12:01 a.m. Washington time.
The Trump official said that the temporary waiver to India was aimed at taking off global pressure as Iran aims to “take global energy hostage”. “India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of US oil,” the treasury secretary wrote on X.