The US Treasury on Thursday issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil currently stuck in the sea.
“To allow oil to continue flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement posted on social media.
“This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea,” he continued.
He called it a stopgap measure as Washington hopes India will eventually buy more American oil.
“This interim measure will ease the pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to hold global energy hostage,” Bessent said.
Indian refiners are buying millions of barrels of fast-moving shipments of Russian crude as India seeks to weather an oil supply crisis sparked by the Middle East conflict, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Bessent’s announcement came after months of Washington pressuring New Delhi to avoid buying Russian barrels in an effort to reduce the flow of money to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
India is vulnerable to energy supply shocks, with crude reserves covering only about 25 days of demand. India sources around 40% of its oil imports from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz.
India was the largest buyer of Russian maritime crude after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but in January its refiners began reducing purchases under pressure from Washington.
Cutting purchases of Russian oil helped New Delhi avoid 25% tariffs and close an interim trade deal with the United States.
A source directly involved in the matter said India had approached Donald Trump’s administration seeking approval to buy imports of Russian crude oil due to the conflict with Iran.
India’s oil and foreign ministries did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment. The White House and the US Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
State-owned refiners Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals are in talks with traders for early delivery of Russian cargoes, according to Reuters sources.
One of the sources said Indian state refiners have so far bought about 20 million barrels of Russian oil from traders.
HPCL and MRPL last received Russian oil in November, according to data obtained from industry sources.
