US Treasury Secretary hints at lifting more sanctions on Russian oil
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that his government is considering the possibility of lifting sanctions on more Russian oil, a day after it temporarily allowed India to buy it from Moscow as global oil prices soared.
The US-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran’s counter-attacks in the Gulf region have led to disruptions in the energy and transportation sectors, effectively bringing activity in the Strait of Hormuz to a standstill.
The price of crude oil rose 8.5% on Friday, and nearly 30% in a week after President Donald Trump said only an unconditional surrender to Iran would end the Middle East war.
Bessent told Fox Business on Friday: “We may lift sanctions on more Russian oil”.
“There are hundreds of millions of barrels of sanctioned crude oil in the waters… By lifting sanctions, the Treasury can secure supplies,” he added.
Washington insisted that the new measures weren’t aimed at easing restrictions imposed on Moscow due to its conduct in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, but only on supplies loaded into tankers and on their way to delivery.
“We’ll continue to announce measures to ease pressure on the market during this war,” Bessent said, adding that high oil prices are a weakness both domestically and internationally.
From their part, Kremlin economic adviser Kirill Dmitriev said he was discussing the issue with the United States, writing on X: “Western sanctions have proven to be damaging to the global economy”.
On Thursday, the US government temporarily eased economic sanctions to allow the sale of Russian oil currently stuck at sea to India.
It noted that transactions, including those from vessels prohibited under the various sanctions’ regimes, are authorized until the end of April 3, 2026.
