US considers lifting more sanctions on Russian oil as Iran conflict sees global prices surge | Oil

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that his government was considering lifting sanctions on more Russian oil, a day after authorizing India to temporarily buy from Moscow as global oil prices rose.

The US-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes in the Gulf region have disrupted the world’s energy and transportation sectors and virtually halted activities in the Strait of Hormuz.

The price of crude oil rose 8.5 percent on Friday and rose nearly 30 percent over the week after U.S. President Donald Trump said only the “unconditional surrender” of Iran would end the Middle East war.

“We may remove approval for other Russian oils,” Bessent told Fox Business on Friday.

“There are hundreds of millions of barrels of approved crude oil on the water. And in essence, by uncertifying them, the Treasury can create a supply.”

Washington insisted the new measures were not aimed at easing restrictions imposed on Moscow over its stance on talks to end the war in Ukraine, but instead only affected supplies already in transit.

“We will continue the pace of announcing measures that will bring relief to the market during this conflict,” Bessent said, as high oil prices are a pain point for both domestic and international markets.

Kremlin economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev said he discussed the issue with the United States and shared on X that “Western sanctions have proven to be harmful to the world economy.”

The US government on Thursday temporarily eased economic sanctions to allow Russian oil stranded at sea to be sold to India.

It was stated that transactions, including ships blocked by various sanctions regimes, are allowed until the end of the day on April 3, 2026.