US lifts sanctions on Russian oil cargoes at sea as global prices breach $100 a barrel

The United States has temporarily exempted from sanctions the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products already in transit on the world’s oceans.

The licence, issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the Treasury Department, applies to cargoes loaded onto vessels before March 12 and remains valid through April 12.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the measure was designed to reinforce stability in global energy markets. He stressed that the temporary exemption would not confer any meaningful financial advantage on the Russian government, noting that Moscow derives the bulk of its energy revenues from taxes levied at the point of production.

Moscow reads the waiver more broadly

The sanctions relief covers a volume of roughly 100 million barrels — a figure disclosed by Kirill Dmitriev, President of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Kremlin’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation.

Fox News, however, puts the volume of Russian-origin oil currently in transit even higher, at approximately 124 million barrels.

In a post to his Telegram channel, Dmitriev declared that, given what he described as a deepening energy crisis, further easing of restrictions on Russian energy sources was becoming increasingly inevitable.

US-Russia contacts move to Florida

Last week, Washington had already granted India a temporary authorisation to purchase Russian oil sitting in international waters. President Donald Trump, following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, had signalled his intention to lift energy-sector sanctions on multiple countries as part of a broader effort to stabilise global oil markets.

In the wake of that announcement, Dmitriev met in Florida with Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. Following those talks, Dmitriev said the US was developing a sharper appreciation of what he called the “key and structural role” that Russian oil and natural gas play in underpinning the stability of the global economy.

A joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran has triggered severe disruptions to oil supply and a sharp spike in fuel prices. Tehran has closed the Strait of Hormuz — the chokepoint through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply and up to 30% of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments pass. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened that, should US and Israeli strikes continue, it will not permit “a single litre of oil” to be exported from the Middle East.

Against that backdrop, global oil prices surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022. As of March 12, more than 30 member states of the International Energy Agency (IEA) had resolved to release 400 million barrels from their strategic reserves in a coordinated bid to arrest the price surge.