The U.S. Treasury Department issued a 30-day waiver on Thursday (March 5) 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 on X.
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"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 said.
He called it a stopgap measure, as Washington expects India to eventually buy more U.S. oil.
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.
