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The United States issued a 30-day licence for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was a step to stabilize global energy markets roiled by the Iran war.
The announcement comes a day after the U.S. Energy Department said that the U.S. would be releasing 172 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve in an effort to curb sky-rocketing oil prices.
That release was part of a broader commitment by the 32-nation International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of oil. The agency said earlier on Thursday that the war in the Middle East was creating the biggest oil supply disruption in history.
Bessent, in a statement on X released hours after benchmark oil prices shot above $100 US a barrel, said the measure was “narrowly tailored” and “short-term” and would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
“The temporary increase in oil prices is a short-term and temporary disruption that will result in a massive benefit to our nation and economy in the long-term,” Bessent said, echoing President Donald Trump.
The move will likely be greeted coolly among Europe’s Ukraine allies. Since returning to office, Trump has often assailed European countries for their reliance on Russian energy.
Attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on energy infrastructure have helped drive a global energy shock, lifting oil prices — including for Russia’s heavily sanctioned exports.
“We believe that is wrong,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at a news conference Friday alongside his Norwegian counterpart, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
“There is currently a problem with prices, but not with supply,” said Merz. “And in that respect, I would like to know what other factors led the U.S. government to take this decision.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday before Bessent’s announcement that “if these sanctions are lifted, it means we are recognizing the legitimacy of [Russia’s] aggression.”
The U.S. has mediated talks with Ukraine and Russia in recent months to halt the war, now into its fifth year. Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, suggested the “unilateral decision by the United States” could undermine those efforts.
“Increasing economic pressure on Russia is decisive for it to accept a serious negotiation for a just and lasting peace,” said Costa of Portugal.
‘We make a lot of money’
The licence issued Thursday, which authorizes the delivery and sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of March 12, will remain valid through midnight Washington time on April 11, according to the text of the licence posted on the Treasury Department’s website.
The U.S. Treasury previously issued a 30-day waiver on March 5 specifically for India, allowing New Delhi to buy Russian oil stuck at sea. That move was slammed by Senate Democrats, who said in a statement it was “giving Putin a huge financial boost and the means to continue his bloody war in Ukraine.”
Among other measures to tame energy prices, Trump has already ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for maritime trade in the Gulf and said the U.S. navy could escort ships in the region.
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In another attempt to control prices, the Trump administration is considering temporarily waiving a shipping rule known as the Jones Act to ensure energy and agricultural products can move freely between U.S. ports, the White House said. Waiving the rule would allow foreign ships to carry fuel between U.S. ports, potentially lowering costs and speeding deliveries.
“The president is taking every action he can to lower prices … unsanctioned oil that’s at sea to get that into the market, continuing to push our own producers to drill and expand production as fast and as far as they can, providing regulatory relief, and you’re going to see more and more in the days to come,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told Fox News on Thursday.
There were about 124 million barrels of Russian-origin oil on water across 30 different locations globally as of Thursday, Fox News reported, adding that the U.S. licence would provide around five to six days of supply when taking into account the daily loss of oil from the Strait.
Russia sees a U.S. sanctions waiver on its oil as an attempt by Washington to stabilize global energy markets, and the two countries have a shared interest in this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
Without significant volumes of Russian oil entering the market, such stabilization is impossible, Peskov said.
Trump said earlier on Thursday the United States stood to make significant money from oil prices driven higher by the war, prompting criticism from some lawmakers who accused him of caring only about rich people.
“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” he said on social media.
U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent response by Tehran have widened regional tensions and paralyzed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting vital Middle East oil and gas flows and sending energy prices higher.
Raising the stakes for the global economy, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it will block oil shipments from the Gulf unless the U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.
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