- Lawmakers criticize “benefiting” Russia in the midst of the war in Ukraine.
- An analyst warns that the energy market’s tools are “almost exhausted.”
- The European Union urges that sanctions on Russia not be relaxed.
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration renewed a waiver allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil offshore for about a month, even as lawmakers accused the administration of going easy on Moscow as it continues its war against Ukraine.
The Treasury Department’s waiver allows countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products loaded on ships from Friday through May 16. It replaces a 30-day exemption that expired on April 11 and excludes transactions involving Iran, Cuba and North Korea.
The move is part of the administration’s effort to rein in global energy prices, which have soared during the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. It came after Asian countries, suffering from the global energy shock, pressured Washington to allow alternative supplies to reach markets.
Reversal by the treasury
“As negotiations (with Iran) accelerate, Treasury wants to ensure oil is available to those who need it,” a Treasury Department spokesperson said.
Just two days earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would not renew the waiver for Russian oil and another for Iranian oil, which is set to expire on Sunday.
Global oil prices fell 9% on Friday to around $90 a barrel after Iran temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz, an oil choke point in the Gulf. But the war has already created the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history, the International Energy Agency has said.
The war, which entered its eighth week on Saturday, has damaged more than 80 oil and gas facilities in the Middle East, and Tehran has warned it could close the strait again if the US Navy’s recent blockade of Iranian ports continues.
High oil prices are a threat to President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Trump has also faced pressure from partner countries on the price of oil. A U.S. source said partner countries, on the sidelines of Group of 20, World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington this week, had asked the United States to extend the waiver.
And he talked about oil this week in a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, a big buyer of Russian oil.
The waiver on Iranian oil, which the Treasury Department issued on March 20, allowed some 140 million barrels of oil to reach global markets and helped ease pressure on energy supplies, Bessent said last month.
Lasting damage
U.S. lawmakers from both political parties had criticized the administration for the sanctions waivers, saying they would help Iran’s economy while it was at war with the United States and Russia while it was at war with Ukraine.
The waivers could impede Western efforts to deprive Russia of revenue from its war in Ukraine and put Washington at odds with its allies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said now is not the time to relax sanctions against Russia.
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev said in a social media post about the waiver renewal: “U.S.-Russia economic and energy cooperation will continue.”
He had said the first exemption on Russian oil would free up 100 million barrels of crude, equivalent to almost a day of global production.
Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert at consulting firm Obsidian Risk Advisors, said Friday’s renewal likely won’t be the last waiver Washington will issue.
“The conflict has caused lasting damage to global energy markets and the tools available to stabilize them are nearly exhausted,” Erickson said.
