WASHINGTON, 13 March. - (ANA) - The United States has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil already at sea in an effort to stabilise global energy markets severely disrupted by the Iran war.

 

The treasury department issued the exemptions on Thursday evening, allowing stranded Russian oil purchases to be shipped to countries worldwide until April 11.

 

The decision is expected to add hundreds of millions of barrels of crude to global markets, easing prices that have hovered near $100 a barrel since the conflict began.

 

The US sanctioned major Russian oil firms last year, in a move that marked a turning point in Washington’s effort to pile pressure on Moscow over its war in Ukraine.

 

As one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers, Russia stands to gain from the price spike triggered by the Iran war, which experts say has been “a massive benefit to Moscow”.

 

Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, said Russia would not benefit substantially from the sanctions relief.

 

“To increase the global reach of existing supply, Treasury is providing a temporary authorisation to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea,” Mr Bessent wrote in a social media post on Thursday, hours after benchmark oil prices shot above $100 a barrel.

 

“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction.”

 

However, Mr Bessent admitted in a podcast interview on Thursday that Russia could benefit marginally for a “micro period”, which was “unfortunate”.

 

According to the commodities data tracking service Kpler, there are about 130 million barrels of Russian oil at sea.

 

The easing of sanctions marks a sharp reversal from August last year, when Donald Trump doubled tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

 

The move could widen a rift between the US and Europe, which has been sceptical of Mr Trump’s attack on Iran and favours continued economic pressure on Russia.

 

The announcement came a day after the US energy department said the US would be releasing 172 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve in an effort to dampen skyrocketing oil prices.

 

The release was part of a broader commitment by the 32-nation International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of oil.

 

The agency said earlier on Thursday that the Iran war was creating the biggest oil supply disruption in history.

 

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, told the Primetime programme on Fox News that the US president was “taking every action he can to lower prices”.

 

Meanwhile, senior Senate Democrats criticised the Trump administration for easing sanctions on Russia, arguing the move aimed to offset the fallout from a “reckless” war of Mr Trump’s own making.

 

“This war has resulted in huge spikes in gas prices for Americans, who are now paying more at the pump than at any point in either of President Trump’s two terms – only compounding the affordability crisis our country is facing,” a statement read.

 

“In turn, this self-made global energy shock is serving to enrich Putin and line his war coffers by offering him windfall profits.

 

“Instead of changing course, the president is only making this situation worse by handing Putin, his shadow fleet, and traders still dealing in sanctioned oil a free pass to increase oil shipments to Russia’s second-largest importer.”   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/13 March 2026 - - -