The United States has extended by a month a waiver from sanctions to allow countries to buy petroleum products from Russia, days after it ruled out renewal of the special measure. According to an order issued by the US Department of the Treasury yesterday, the waiver now permits transactions involving Russian oil shipments that were already at sea on or before April 17 through May 16. 

 

Earlier, the US had granted an exemption from sanctions to India for buying Russian oil for a month beginning March 5. A few days later, a similar waiver was extended to several other countries, which ended on April 11. The Treasury clarified that the general licence does not authorise transactions involving individuals, entities, or joint ventures located in Iran, North Korea, Cuba, or certain regions of Ukraine. 

 

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would not be renewing the waiver for Russian oil and another for Iranian oil. The previous exemption had enabled approximately 140 million barrels of Russian oil already loaded onto vessels to reach global markets, at a time when oil prices were rising amid tensions linked to the ongoing US conflict with Iran.