The Trump administration will give fuel-makers in India temporary licenses to buy sanctioned Russian oil as a way to help bring down energy prices that have risen sharply amid the U.S. war against Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday.
“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 said via a social media post. “This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea.”
POLITICO reported earlier today that the administration was considering the move to bring down gasoline prices that have risen to their highest level in more than a year.
The administration has been mulling multiple ways to tame gasoline prices that have jumped 25 cents a gallon since the U.S. launched attacks against Iran. Allowing India, one of the main buyers of Russian oil, to resume purchases could anger some who have pushed the administration to do more to support Ukraine in its own defense against Russia’s yearslong offensive into the country. And it shows how far some in the White House are prepared to go to curb energy prices that have risen to their highest levels since Trump reentered office last year.
