US extends sanctions waiver on Russian oil to aid countries hit hardest by Iran war

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces another 30-day extension of a sanctions waiver allowing purchases of Russian seaborne oil to aid “energy-vulnerable” countries hit by the Iran war, reversing plans not to grant an extension.

Bessent says in a posting on X that the Treasury was issuing the 30-day general license after a previous waiver lapsed on Saturday. This will allow temporary access to Russian oil and petroleum products stranded on tankers without violating severe US sanctions on Russian oil majors, he says.

A source familiar with the decision had told Reuters that the second waiver extension was requested by poor and vulnerable countries that cannot get Gulf oil shipments due to the US-Israeli war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“This extension will provide additional flexibility, and we will work with these nations to provide specific licenses as needed,” Bessent says. “This general license will help stabilize the physical crude market and ensure oil reaches the most energy-vulnerable countries.”

Bessent, who last month told the Associated Press that no further extension of the Russian oil sanctions waiver was planned, on Monday argued that the measure would help reroute existing supply to countries most in need, allowing them to compete with China for previously sanctioned oil.

The action marks the second time the Treasury has allowed the sanctions waiver to lapse and subsequently extended it.

Two senior Democratic senators, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, blasted the move as an “indefensible gift” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Trump administration last year slapped sanctions on Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine by depriving vital oil revenues to Moscow.

But after US-Israeli attacks on Iran drove up global oil prices, the Treasury first issued the temporary license in March in an attempt to ease oil supply shortages and mitigate price spikes by releasing sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products stranded in tankers. The waivers do not apply to oil now being pumped by Russia.