The US Treasury issued a 30-day waiver on Thursday, allowing India to buy Russian oil currently stranded at sea.
“To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to permit Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement posted on social media.
“This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorises transactions involving oil already stranded at sea,” he said.
He described it as a stopgap measure, as Washington expects India to buy more US oil eventually. “This stopgap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage,” Bessent said.
India sources around 40% of its oil imports from the West Asia via the Strait of Hormuz.
