The United States has “allowed” India to buy Russian oil already stranded at sea, issuing a temporary waiver aimed at stabilizing global oil supplies due to the escalating conflict in West Asia.US President Donald Trump’s aide Scott Besant described India as a “very good actor” for complying with Washington’s request to halt purchases of previously approved Russian oil and said the temporary measure would help ease supply pressure in the global market.
The move comes a day after Washington issued a 30-day waiver allowing Russian crude currently stranded at sea to continue transiting to India.
US cites temporary supply concerns
Speaking to Fox Business, US Treasury Secretary Besant said the decision is aimed at reducing short-term supply disruptions during the current crisis.Besant said, “The world is very well supplied with oil. The Treasury (Department) agreed that our allies in India would start buying Russian oil which was already in the water.”“The Indians have been very good actors. We told them to stop buying sanctioned Russian oil this autumn. They did. They were going to replace it with American oil,” he said.He said, “But to reduce the temporary difference of oil around the world, we have allowed them to accept Russian oil. We can cancel the embargo on other Russian oil.”Besant also said that a large quantity of sanctioned crude oil is stranded in the sea, adding, “There are millions of sanctioned barrels of sanctioned crude oil on the water,” she said, adding, “By not sanctioning them, the Treasury can create supply.”“And we are considering it. We are going to announce measures to provide relief to the market during this struggle,” he said.
‘Short-term measures to help keep oil prices low’
Other Trump administration officials have also confirmed that Washington has “allowed” India to buy Russian crude that is already loaded on ships.Earlier, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said that the move was aimed at bringing existing oil supplies to market faster.“We have implemented short-term measures to help keep oil prices low. We are allowing our friends in India to take the oil already on ships, refine it, and move those barrels to market quickly. “A practical way to keep supplies going and reduce pressure,” Wright said in a post on X.In an interview with ABC News Live, Wright emphasized that the measure was temporary.“But as oil bids have gone up a little bit because of the constraints coming through the Strait of Hormuz, we’re taking a short-term action to say that all the floating Russian oil reserves around Southern Asia, it’s backed by China, China doesn’t treat its suppliers well, so there’s a bunch of floating barrels just lying there,” he said.“We have contacted our friends in India and said, ‘Buy that oil. Bring it to your refineries. That gets the stored oil immediately into Indian refineries and takes the pressure off other refineries around the world to buy the oil for which they are no longer competing with the Indians in that market,'” Wright said.“So we have a number of measures that are short-term and temporary. This is not a change in policy toward Russia.” “This is a very brief change in policy to keep oil prices a little better than they otherwise would have been,” he added.
Relaxation amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz
The US Treasury had earlier issued an order granting a 30-day license to India to allow the delivery and sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products. The decision has been taken as shipping routes through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz are facing disruption due to the ongoing conflict in the region.“Oil and gas production has reached all-time highs as a result of President Trump’s energy agenda. To keep oil flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary waiver of 30 days to allow Indian refiners to buy Russian oil,” Besant said earlier.He stressed that the move was a limited measure and would not bring much benefit to Moscow.“This intentionally short-term measure will not bring significant financial benefits to the Russian government, as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea,” he said.He said, “India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully expect New Delhi to increase purchases of US oil. This stop-gap measure will ease the pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to hold global energy hostage.”
India’s oil supply situation
The move comes months after the Trump administration imposed a punitive 25% tariff on India on its purchases of Russian oil, arguing that such imports were helping finance Moscow’s war against Ukraine.However, the tariffs were later lifted after the two countries agreed to the framework of an interim trade agreement and India committed to reducing imports from Russia while increasing purchases of American energy.India currently imports about 5.5-5.6 million barrels of crude oil per day, which is about 90% of its domestic consumption. Officials say the country’s energy situation remains comfortable despite regional tensions.About 15 million barrels of crude oil is currently on tankers in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, while ships carrying another seven million barrels are waiting off Singapore. Additional tankers in the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal are also headed towards Indian ports and may arrive within a week.India imported 1 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil in February, compared with 1.1 million bpd in January and 1.2 million bpd in December, according to Kpler data.Before the Ukraine war in 2022, Russian crude accounted for only 0.2% of India’s imports, but purchases increased sharply after Moscow started offering deep discounts.
