The United States has said it will allow India to purchase Russian oil already loaded on ships at sea, describing the move as a temporary step to ease global supply pressures amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the decision was taken to stabilise oil markets while geopolitical tensions disrupt supply routes. “The world is very well supplied with oil. Yesterday, the Treasury Department agreed to let our allies in India start buying Russian oil that was already on the water,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business on Friday.
He added that India had earlier complied with Washington’s request to halt purchases of sanctioned Russian crude.
“The Indians had been very good actors. We had asked them to stop buying sanctioned Russian oil this fall, and they did. They were planning to substitute it with US oil. But to ease the temporary gap in global supply, we have given them permission to accept the Russian oil,” Bessent said.
According to him, hundreds of millions of barrels of sanctioned Russian crude are currently stored on ships at sea. Allowing those barrels to enter the market could help stabilise prices.
“In essence, by unsanctioning them, the Treasury can create supply. We are looking at that and will continue announcing measures to bring relief to the market during this conflict,” he said. Other officials in the administration of US President Donald Trump have also confirmed the temporary policy shift.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US is allowing India to process Russian oil already floating near southern Asia to maintain steady global supply during the crisis triggered by the US-Israel conflict with Iran.
“We are allowing our friends in India to take oil that is already on ships, refine it, and move those barrels into the market quickly. It’s a practical way to keep supply flowing and ease pressure,” Wright said in a post on the social media platform X.
In an interview with ABC News Live, Wright explained that the step is aimed at addressing short-term supply disruptions caused by tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global oil transit route.
He noted that a large quantity of Russian oil has been sitting in floating storage near southern Asia after buyers such as China slowed purchases. “We’ve reached out to our friends in India and said: buy that oil and bring it into your refineries. That pulls stored oil immediately into Indian refineries and reduces pressure on other refineries around the world,” Wright said.
Officials stressed that the measure is temporary and does not signal a broader change in Washington’s policy toward Russia. Earlier this week, the US announced a 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to buy Russian crude already loaded onto vessels before March 5, 2026.
Bessent said the move is a deliberately short-term measure that will not significantly benefit Moscow financially because it only applies to oil already stranded at sea. “India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will increase purchases of American oil. This stop-gap measure will ease market pressure caused by Iran’s attempts to disrupt global energy supply,” he said.
The development comes months after the Trump administration imposed a 25% punitive tariff on India over its purchases of Russian oil, arguing that the trade was helping fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
However, the two countries later reached a framework for an interim trade agreement. Following that, the US removed the tariff after New Delhi committed to reducing direct and indirect imports of Russian energy and expanding purchases of American oil.
According to a statement issued by the US Treasury Department, the waiver authorises transactions involving Russian crude loaded onto vessels on or before March 5, 2026, provided the cargo is delivered to ports in India by April 4.
The general licence also clarified that the authorisation does not permit any other transactions restricted under US sanctions, including dealings involving Iran or Iranian-origin goods and services.
Comments are closed.