US again allows more Russian oil sales to help control prices

Published Sat, Apr 18, 2026 · 12:10 PM

[LOS ANGELES] The US on Friday (Apr 17) issued a license letting countries buy more Russian oil that’s already been loaded on tankers, part of the White House’s push to prevent prices from surging.

The temporary authorisation, which applies to Russian crude that would otherwise be sanctioned, comes after a previous waiver expired Apr 11. It applies to crude that was loaded onto tankers on or before Apr 17, the Treasury said in a statement.

It marks a shift from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments Wednesday that the US would not renew general licenses that allowed for the temporary sale of certain Russian and Iranian crude. A waiver for Iranian supplies is set to lapse on Sunday.

Oil prices have soared since the war in Iran began, driving fuel prices at the pump globally, including gasoline in the US. The conflict has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy-shipping channel where about a fifth of the world’s oil flows. 

Earlier Friday, leaders in Tehran said that Hormuz is open for commercial shipping after Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon. That led to a steep decline in oil, fuel and natural gas prices on hopes that Washington and Tehran are close to a deal to end the war and more energy supplies could transit safely through the strait. 

Brent crude traded 9 per cent lower at around US$90 a barrel by 2.09 pm New York time and wiped out most of the gains that came since the onset of the war. Diesel prices in the US and Europe were also lower. 

The latest license opens up more supplies for countries that have been struggling with mounting fuel shortages. Some Asian nations had implored the Trump administration to renew the Russian oil waiver as the toll from the crude disruption mounts. 

Yet critics, including European nations, had argued that it enriches Moscow, undermining a sanctions regime imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The previous Russian crude waiver “failed to meaningfully calm global energy markets, but it did result in delivering a substantial revenue windfall to Russia,” said Brett Erickson, managing principal of Obsidian Risk Advisors, a consultancy advising financial institutions, governments and legal teams. “Now Trump is handing a gift to our adversaries. Washington continues to pay a steep price for minimal economic relief.”

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control order issued Friday lasts until May 16 doesn’t apply to transactions involving people in Iran, North Korea, Cuba and certain regions of Ukraine. 

Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters that the US and Iran had held “some very good discussions” and that those talks would “go on over the weekend”. BLOOMBERG