The US Treasury Department license allows the sale of Russian oil already loaded onto vessels for the next 30 days
In a temporary easing of sanctions on Russia’s oil, the US Treasury Department issued a new license allowing the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products for 30 days.
The oil products must have been loaded on vessels on or before 12:01 a.m. Washington time, March 12 (0401 GMT/UST March 13), the license text says.
The permit authorizes the sale of petroleum products for 30 days, or until April 11.
The move comes as energy prices soar amid the US-Israel war with Iran.
The Iranian blockage of the Strait of Hormuz has stopped one fifth of the world’s oil supply from reaching global markets.
Announcing the measure, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed it wouldn’t be of much financial help to Russia.
“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government,” Bessent wrote on X.
US already gave India waiver to buy Russian oil
In a similar 30-day waiver of sanctions, the US Treasury published a license on March 5 allowing Indian refiners to buy Russian oil already loaded onto tankers.
This marked a major US policy shift.
Just a month earlier, India, the world’s third-largest importer of crude oil, agreed to stop buying oil from Russia after pressure from US President Donald Trump.
India reportedly snapped up 30 million barrels of Russian oil in a day.
By Tuesday, March 10, Russian crude held on tankers fell to 118.3 million barrels from 132.9 million barrels at the end of February, US business channel CNBC reported, citing Kpler trade data.
This suggested “cargoes were moving to buyers fast,” CNBC said.
Russia ‘winner’ of Iran war
Oil market analyses since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran have pointed to benefits for Russia.
The Iran war isn’t only distracting global attention from Russia’s war on Ukraine, but many believe Russia will also directly profit from the increasing energy prices, despite sanctions.
“So far, there is only one winner in this war — Russia,” European Council President Antonio Costa said in a speech on Tuesday. “It gains new resources to finance its war against Ukraine as energy prices rise.”
Russia itself said a week ago that it was seeing a “significant increase in demand for Russian energy resources in connection with the war in Iran.”
Russia “remains a reliable supplier” of both oil and gas, including LNG, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on March 6.
Analyst Igor Yushkov from Russia’s government-run Financial University told Reuters news agency at the time that the “conflict in the Strait of Hormuz is creating favorable conditions for the growth of Russia’s revenues from energy exports.”
Source: DW
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