The Trump Administration would like to end the sanction waivers allowing sales of Russian oil as soon as possible, although the decision rests with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a testimony before the Senate Foreign Policy Committee.
Since the war in Iran began, the U.S. Administration has extended three times an initial one-month waiver de-sanctioning Russian oil already loaded on tankers. The one-month waiver initially granted in the middle of March has been extended monthly and currently expires on June 17.
The U.S. waivers for Russian crude loaded on tankers have been a lifeline to Asian buyers, most of all India, amid the worst supply disruption in the history of oil markets when the Strait of Hormuz became mostly inaccessible for vessel traffic.
Russia remained the biggest supplier of oil to India in April in May, as refiners took advantage of the continuous renewal of U.S. waivers for Russian crude loaded on tankers. India’s imports of Russian oil have jumped again since the Middle East conflict erupted, following a few months of subdued purchasing before the war when the U.S. was pressuring India to slash its imports of oil from Russia.
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Now the waiver is giving a boost to the Kremlin, Senators say and asked Secretary Rubio when the Administration would finally yank these waivers.
“Well, that ultimately is a decision that’s made by Treasury, but I will tell you, it depends on the circumstances at the time,” Rubio said.
“We would like to end it as soon as we possibly can because the underlying policy of this country has been to sanction their oil. These are time-limited waivers for the purpose of opening up more global supply.”
According to Rubio, “The Russian waivers were a decision. The underlying policy remains on the sanctions. What has changed is these time-limited extensions to sort of try to alleviate the global” disruption.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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