The US has temporarily allowed India to receive Russian oil already at sea to help maintain global energy supplies during disruptions linked to the conflict involving Iran, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, as reported by PTI.
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She added that the short-term measure is unlikely to bring significant financial benefits to Russia.
Here’s what Scott Bessent had to say
President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the entire national security team “came to this decision because our allies in India have been good actors and have stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil before,” Leavitt said at a White House news conference on Tuesday.
“So while we’re working to calm this temporary oil supply gap around the world because of the Iranians, we’ve temporarily allowed them (India) to accept Russian oil. And that Russian oil was already at sea. It was already on the water. So we don’t believe this short-term measure is going to bring significant financial benefit to the Russian government at this point,” she said.
Leavitt was responding to a question about the US granting a 30-day waiver to India to buy Russian oil amid an escalating conflict in West Asia.
Why does the US allow India to buy Russian oil?
Amid the conflict with Iran, the United States last week said it was granting a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to buy Russian crude.
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told FOX News: “They (Indians) stopped buying Russian oil when we ordered them, now we’re allowing them to receive Russian oil to build up their stockpiles.
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Donald Trump has imposed punitive 25% tariffs on India for its purchases of Russian oil, with his administration claiming imports from New Delhi help fund Russia’s war effort against Ukraine.
Last month, the U.S. and India announced they had prepared the framework for an interim trade deal, and Trump issued an executive order removing 25 percent tariffs on New Delhi, while noting India’s commitment to halt direct or indirect energy imports from Moscow and purchases of U.S. energy products.
“We are enabling our friends in India…”
In a post on X last Friday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the U.S. was “enabling our friends in India” to take Russian oil already on ships around South Asia, refine it and quickly move supplies to market to ensure smooth supplies and ease pressure amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
“We’ve put in place short-term measures to help keep oil prices down. We’re allowing our friends in India to take the oil that’s already on the ships, refine it and quickly move those barrels to market. A practical way to keep supply flowing and relieve pressure,” Wright said.
In an interview with ABC News Live, Wright said long-term oil reserves are “rich” and there are no concerns, but in the short term there is a need to get oil to market.
“But as oil goes up a little bit because of these restrictions coming out of the Strait of Hormuz, we’re taking a short-term action to say that all this floating Russian oil storage that’s around South Asia is just being backed up by China, China doesn’t treat its suppliers well, so there’s just a bunch of floating barrels sitting there. We’ve reached out to our friends in India and we’ve said pull this into your oil stocks immediately. Brries’Buy. Indian refineries and it relieves the pressure on other refiners around the world to buy oil that they are no longer competing with Indians for in this market,” Wright said.
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“So we have a number of these measures that are short-term and temporary. This is not a policy change towards Russia. This is a very short-term policy change, just to keep oil prices down a little bit better than we could otherwise,” he added.
Wright also said that he and Bessent had talked with authorities in India about buying Russian oil already floating in waterways waiting to be unloaded at Chinese refineries and shipping it to Indian refineries to “allay” concerns about oil shortages and rising prices amid the conflict in West Asia.
“The policy of the United States towards Russia has not changed at all. India is clear on that,” Wright said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
Asked whether the Treasury Department’s 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to buy Russian oil during the US-Israel conflict with Iran undermined the Trump administration’s efforts to isolate Russia, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said no.
He said India has already replaced most of its Russian oil imports and is increasing purchases from the United States, Venezuela and other suppliers.
“India has been a great partner in that regard. But I called the Indians, as did Finance Minister Bessent, and I said, ‘Look, there’s a whole bunch of oil floating around waiting to be unloaded at Chinese refineries’.”
“Instead of waiting six weeks for it to be unloaded there, let’s get that oil up front, let it land in Indian refineries and quell this fear of oil shortages, quell the price jumps and fears that we’re seeing in the market. It’s just a pragmatic effort that has a short time frame. No change in policy towards Russia,” he said.
(With input from agencies)
