• Source:JND

A close aide of US President Donald Trump said on Friday that his administration has granted temporary permission to India to buy Russian oil, with a view to easing supplies around the world amid the Middle East war.

"The world is very well supplied with oil. Yesterday, the Treasury Department agreed to let our allies in India start buying Russian oil that was already on the water," PTI quoted US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant's interview with Fox Business.

Easing Global Supply Strains Amid Middle East Conflict

This decision comes amid rising tensions in West Asia, where war, missile attacks, and Strait of Hormuz blockage have disrupted the crude oil supplies in the world.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant said, "The Indians had been very good actors. We had asked them to stop buying sanctioned Russian oil this fall. They did. They were going to substitute it with US oil. But to ease the temporary gap in oil around the world, we have permitted them to accept the Russian oil. We may sanction other Russian oil".

He added by saying that hundreds of crude oil barrels are on water. "By unsanctioning them, Treasury can create supply. And we are looking at that. We are going to keep a cadence of announcing measures to bring relief to the market during this conflict."

ALSO READ: US-Iran-Israel War: Dubai Govt Denies Reports Of Explosion At International Airport

Addressing Short-Term Bottlenecks In Southern Asia

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright supported this perspective, highlighting that although long-term oil reserves are sufficient, immediate measures are necessary to address current supply bottlenecks. Wright noted that a significant accumulation of floating storage in Southern Asia, largely intended for China, has led to a market backlog.

During an interview with ABC News Live, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that long-term oil supplies are "abundant" and there are no worries regarding that, but in the short term, there is a need to get oil on the market.

Write added, "We've reached out to our friends in India and said, ‘Buy that oil. Bring it into your refineries. 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".

ALSO READ: Who Will Replace Ali Khamenei? Iran Delays Decision Amid Threats From US, Israel

Amid the escalating conflict with Iran, on Thursday, the US said that it is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow India to purchase oil from Russia.

"President Trump's energy agenda has resulted in oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded. To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil," Bessent had said.

Bessent added, "India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of US oil. This stop-gap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran's attempt to take global energy hostage".

ALSO READ: Iran-Israel-US War: 50 Israeli Jets Destroy Khamenei's Underground Bunker; IDF Shares Video

To stabilise global energy prices and lower competition among international refiners, Washington is encouraging India to process this trapped oil and reintroduce it into the global market. Wright characterised this strategy as a pragmatic solution to restore supply flow amidst ongoing geopolitical instability.

While India became the top importer of Russian crude following the invasion of Ukraine, it scaled back those imports earlier this year due to a 25 per cent US tariff. However, that tariff has since been lowered, and the subsequent signing of an interim trade deal suggests a warming of economic relations. By allowing India this temporary window to handle Russian oil, the US aims to relieve global supply stress while bolstering its strategic ties with New Delhi, a nation it considers an "essential partner."


Also In News