The United States said on March 6 that it is allowing India to take Russian oil already loaded on ships around southern Asia, refine it and move the fuel into global markets to help maintain supply during disruptions linked to the West Asia conflict.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the measure is intended to ease short-term pressure on oil markets as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz affect supply flows.
“We have implemented short-term measures to help keep oil prices down. We are allowing our friends in India to take oil that is already on ships, refine it, and move those barrels into the market quickly,” Wright said in a post on X.
He described the move as “a practical way to get supply flowing and ease pressure.”
US issues temporary waiver for Indian refiners
The remarks follow an announcement by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Washington has issued a temporary 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil.
According to Bessent, the waiver is intended to facilitate transactions involving oil that is already at sea.
He described it as a “deliberately short-term measure” that will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government because it only authorises the purchase of oil that is already stranded on ships.
Floating Russian oil near southern Asia
In an interview with ABC News Live, Wright said the US government is attempting to bring additional oil into the market quickly in response to supply constraints.
He said oil shipments moving through the Strait of Hormuz have faced disruptions during the conflict.
Wright said the US identified a number of tankers carrying Russian crude that were waiting near southern Asia.
“We've reached out to our friends in India and said, ‘Buy that oil. Bring it into your refineries’,” Wright said.
He said this would allow oil that is currently in floating storage to be processed at Indian refineries and released into the global market.
“That pulls stored oil immediately into Indian refineries and releases the pressure on other refineries around the world to buy oil that they're no longer competing with the Indians for in that marketplace,” Wright said.
US says measure is temporary
Wright said the waiver is part of a set of temporary steps designed to stabilise oil markets.
“This is no change in policy towards Russia. This is a very brief change in policy just to keep oil prices down a little bit better than we could otherwise,” he said.
He added that global oil supplies remain adequate in the long term but that short-term steps are needed to manage supply disruptions.
Background: US-India oil trade tensions
The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump had imposed 25 percent punitive tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil.
The US administration said at the time that India’s purchases were supporting Russia’s war effort against Ukraine.
Last month, the US and India announced a framework for an Interim Trade Agreement, after which Trump issued an Executive Order removing the 25 percent tariffs.
The order cited India’s commitment to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Russia and to increase purchases of American energy products.
West Asia conflict and energy supply concerns
The waiver also comes amid escalating tensions in West Asia following joint US-Israel military strikes on Iran.
The conflict has affected energy shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important routes for global oil trade.
US officials said the short-term waiver allowing India to refine Russian crude already on ships is intended to help ensure oil continues flowing into global markets during the disruption.
(With inputs from PTI)
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