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US says it won’t renew sanctions waiver that allowed India to buy Russian oil
The United States will not renew waivers that had allowed countries, including India, to purchase Iranian and Russian oil without triggering sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.
Bessent said that the waivers pertained to oil stranded at sea before March 11. “So all that has been used,” he told reporters.
The US had on March 5 granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver allowing them to buy Russian oil stranded at sea amid the conflict in West Asia. The US treasury secretary had at the time described the move a short-term measure aimed at keeping global oil supplies, and maintained that it would not “provide significant financial benefit” to Russia.
The relaxation allowed India to secure additional Russian oil supplies amid global disruptions, with refiners reportedly ordering around 30 million barrels during the period, NDTV reported.
A week after granting the waiver to India, Washington extended a similar 30-day licence to other countries for Russian crude loaded before March 11. That waiver expired on April 11.
A similar relaxation covering Iranian oil shipments loaded before March 20 is set to expire on Sunday.
The waivers were introduced as temporary measures to ease pressure on global markets amid disruptions linked to Iran, allowing purchase of oil already loaded onto vessels before specified deadlines.
India is a net importer of oil and gas, with around 80% to 85% of its energy requirements met through imports.
Global oil prices have spiked due to the conflict in West Asia, with Iran having blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz for most commercial shipping. The narrow waterbody connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. About 20% of the global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.
The developments on Wednesday came against the backdrop of earlier tensions between Washington and New Delhi over India’s continued purchases of Russian crude.
The Trump administration had in August imposed a punitive levy on India for buying oil from Russia amid the Ukraine war. This had taken the combined US tariff rate to 50%.
On February 7, Trump issued an executive order to remove the additional 25% punitive tariff on imports from India over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. This brought the effective US tariff rate on Indian imports to 18% after the interim trade deal was agreed to.
Track updates from the West Asia war here.
Source: Scroll
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