US lifts restrictions on India over use of stranded Russian crude oil to stem rising global prices

3 minutes of readingMarch 6, 2026 11:09 pm IST

The United States said it will allow “our friends in India” to take Russian oil already in the sea near South Asia, refine it and release supply to the market to relieve pressure on global oil flows during the ongoing West Asian conflict.

The move follows a temporary 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to buy Russian crude currently stranded on ships, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

“We have implemented short-term measures to help keep oil prices down. 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 supply flowing and relieve pressure,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a post on his X handle.

In an interview with ABC News Live, Wright said long-term oil supplies remain “abundant” but the market needs additional barrels in the short term.

“But as the price of oil rises a little bit because of the constraints coming out of the Strait of Hormuz, we’re taking a short-term action to say that all this floating storage of Russian oil that’s sitting in South Asia is something that China just got behind, China doesn’t treat its suppliers well, so there’s a lot of floating barrels there,” Wright said.

“We reached out to our friends in India and said, ‘Buy that oil. Bring it to your refineries.’ That gets the stored oil immediately to the Indian refineries and takes the pressure off other refiners around the world to buy oil for which they are no longer competing with the Indians in that market,” he added.

The United States says the measure is temporary

Bessent said the “deliberately short-term measure” applies only to oil already stranded at sea and will not generate significant financial gains for Moscow.

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“This is not a policy change toward Russia. It’s a very brief policy change just to keep oil prices down a little better than we could otherwise,” he added.

“India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will increase its purchases of American oil. This interim measure will ease the pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to hold the world’s energy hostage,” Bessent added.

Previously, US President Donald Trump had imposed a punitive 25 percent tariff on India over its purchases of Russian oil, with the administration claiming the imports supported Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Last month, the United States and India announced a framework for an interim trade agreement. Trump subsequently issued an Executive Order removing the 25 percent tariffs, citing India’s commitment to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Russia and increase purchases of American energy products.