The U.S. Treasury Department has unexpectedly extended a pause on sanctions targeting Russian oil shipments, a decision made just two days after Secretary Scott Bessent publicly ruled out such a move.
The reversal aims to ease potential shortages exacerbated by the conflict in Iran.
The “general license” temporarily exempts Russian oil loaded onto tankers as of Friday from U.S. sanctions for 30 days.
It prolongs a similar 30-day waiver issued in March for oil loaded by March 11.
This extension highlights how the Iran war’s fallout is boosting Moscow’s ability to profit from energy exports, previously restrained since its invasion of Ukraine.
Bessent had said at the White House on Wednesday: “We will not be renewing the general license on Russian oil, and we will not be renewing the general license on Iranian oil.”
The administration has yet to offer an immediate explanation for the sudden policy shift.