The Trump administration on Friday reversed its earlier stance and extended a waiver that allows countries to continue buying sanctioned Russian oil and oil products for about a month.
The U.S. Treasury Department posted on its website the renewed license, which it says allows the purchase of Russian oil loaded onto vessels from Friday through May 16.
The license, part of the administration’s effort to control global energy prices that have shot higher during the Middle East crisis, replaces a 30-day exemption that expired on April 11. Excludes transactions involving Iran, Cuba and North Korea.
Just two days ago, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States would not renew an exemption for Russian or Iranian oil that expires on Sunday.
“We are not going to renew the general license for Russian oil and Iranian oil. That was the oil that was on the water before March 11. All that was used,” Bessent said during a media briefing.
A waiver could cause friction between Washington and its allies
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers strongly criticized the administration, arguing that lifting the sanctions could end up boosting Iran’s economy while it was embroiled in conflict with the U.S. and supporting Russia’s economy as it continued its war against Ukraine.
The exemptions could also undermine Western efforts to cut off Russian funding for the war in Ukraine and risk creating friction between Washington and its allies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for example, said it was not time to ease sanctions against Russia.
Sanctions relief could only temporarily boost oil supplies
Although the sanctions reprieve could temporarily boost global oil supplies, it did not prevent oil prices from surging due to Iran’s partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil and gas transited before the war.
Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert at Obsidian Risk Advisors, told Reuters that the renewal was unlikely to be the last waiver Washington would issue.
