Reversing its earlier stance, the Trump administration on Friday extended a waiver that permits countries to continue buying sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products for about a month.
The US Treasury Department published the renewed license on its website that says it allows the purchase of Russian oil loaded onto vessels on as of 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 waiver that expired on April 11. It excludes transactions involving Iran, Cuba and North Korea.
Only two days ago, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asserted that the United States would not be renewing the waiver for Russian oil or Iranian oil, which is set to expire on Sunday.
"We will not be renewing the general license on Russian oil and Iranian oil. That was oil that was on the water prior to March 11th. All that has been used," Bessent said during a media briefing.
Waiver could create frictions between Washington and its allies
Lawmakers from both Republicans and Democrats had strongly criticized the administration, arguing that the sanctions waivers could end up boosting Iran’s economy while it was engaged in conflict with the US, and supporting Russia’s economy as it continued its war against Ukraine.
The waivers could also undermine Western efforts to cut off Russia’s war funding in Ukraine and risk creating friction between Washington and its allies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for instance, has said it is not the time to relax sanctions against Russia.
Reprieve on sanctions could only temporarily boost oil supply
Though the reprieve on sanctions could temporarily boost world supplies of oil, it has not prevented petroleum prices from spiking 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 the consulting firm Obsidian Risk Advisors, told Reuters that the renewal is likely not the last waiver Washington will issue."The conflict has done lasting damage to global energy markets, and the tools available to stabilise them are nearly exhausted," Erickson said.
