US President Donald Trump's administration has issued a temporary authorization that allows countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea, according to a document shared on the US Treasury Department's website.
This is in an attempt to control global energy prices that have risen during the war with Iran. The authorization applies to purchases of oil that have been loaded onto ships until Friday. It expires on May 16.
The waiver to buy Russian oil is an extension of a similar authorization previously issued by the Treasury Department. It expired on April 11 after 30 days. The extension comes after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Wednesday that the United States would not extend the permit.
The permit means that other countries will not face U.S. sanctions if they buy the Russian oil that has already been loaded.
Russia's special envoy Kirill Dmitriyev has said that the first permit would release 100 million barrels of Russian crude. That's equivalent to almost a full day of global oil production.
While the temporary easing of sanctions may increase global oil supply in the short term, the first permit has not prevented prices from rising sharply due to the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war, about 20 percent of the world's oil and gas was transported through the strait.
According to Reuters, the waivers could also complicate Western efforts to cut off Russia from revenues during the war in Ukraine.
The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has said that now is not the time to ease sanctions against Russia.
/ritzau/Reuters
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