US grants waiver to allow India to buy Russian oil amid Iran war

The US treasury issued a 30-day waiver on Thursday allowing India to buy Russian oil currently stuck at sea.“To enable oil to keep 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 to 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 expects India to eventually buy more US oil.“This stopgap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage,” Bessent said.Indian refiners are buying millions of barrels of prompt Russian crude oil cargoes as India seeks to navigate an oil supply crunch triggered 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 money flowing to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.India is vulnerable to energy supply shocks, with crude stocks covering only about 25 days of demand. India gets about 40% of its oil imports from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz.India was the top buyer of Russian seaborne crude after Moscow’s 2022 Ukraine invasion, but in January, its refiners started to reduce purchases under pressure from Washington.Cutting Russian oil purchases helped New Delhi avoid 25% tariffs and clinch an interim trade deal with the US.A source directly involved with the matter said India had approached Donald Trump’s administration seeking approval to buy Russian crude imports due to the Iran conflict.India’s oil and foreign ministries did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comments. The White House and the US treasury department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.State refiners Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals are talking to traders for prompt delivery of Russian cargoes, according to the Reuters sources.One of the sources said Indian state refiners have bought about 20 million barrels of Russian oil from traders so far.HPCL and MRPL last received Russian oil in November, according to data obtained from industry sources.