The United States has given India a waiver for 30 days to purchase crude oil from Russia, aiming to keep the global oil supply stable amidst the ongoing conflict between Iran and US-Israel.
This comes ahead of the disrupting shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. The country purchases 40% of its oil from the Gulf region, with the Strait of Hormuz being the key route. The United States on Thursday granted India a 30-day waiver to purchase oils from Russia to meet the energy needs of the country.
“President Trump’s energy agenda has resulted in oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded. 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. 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. India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of U.S. oil. This stopgap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage, “US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X.
Ahead of the tweet, a statement from the Department of Treasury titled ‘Authorizing the Delivery and Sale of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products of Russian Federation Origin Loaded on Vessels as of March 5, 2026, to India’ said, “All transactions prohibited… that are ordinarily incident and necessary to the sale, delivery, or offloading of crude oil or petroleum products of Russian Federation origin loaded on any vessel, including vessels blocked under the above-listed authorities, on or before 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time, March 5, 2026, are authorized through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, April 4, 2026, provided that the delivery or offloading of such crude oil or petroleum products occurs at a port.”
The war has already started affecting several aspects, with energy supply chains being one among them, unsettling global oil markets. The situation for India is even more sensitive, as the country relies heavily on imported crudes.
Last November, Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft to pressurize Russia over the war in Ukraine, resulting in the fall of India’s imports of Russian crude to 1.1 million barrels per day in January, which was the lowest since November 2022. Meanwhile, Russia’s share in India’s total oil imports came down to 21.2% and increased to around 30% in February.
The ongoing war between the US and Israel against Iran increased the oil prices due to the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, including the Brent crude oil, which went up to $83.07 per barrel this morning.
