U.S. issues 30-day waiver to allow India to purchase Russian oil

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday (March 6, 2026) issued a “ temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil”, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 
In a statement on X on Friday (March 6, 2026), Mr. Bessent said the move aims to enable oil to keep flowing into the global market amid the war in West Asia that has disrupted oil supply. 
This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorises transactions involving oil already stranded at sea,” said Mr. Bessent. 
“This stop-gap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage.” 

He went on to say that the U.S. expects India to ramp up purchases of U.S. oil as India is an “essential partner”. 

U.S. President Donald Trump had imposed 25% punitive tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, with the administration asserting that Delhi’s purchases were helping fuel Russia’s war against Ukraine. Last month, the U.S. and India announced they had reached a framework for an Interim Agreement on trade, and Trump issued an Executive Order removing the 25% punitive tariffs on India, noting the commitment by New Delhi to stop importing energy from Moscow and increase purchasing of American energy products. 

India has been continuously reducing Russian oil imports and had instead sourced more from the Gulf countries and the U.S. in January 2026, the latest official data shows, with Russia’s share in India’s oil imports falling to less than 20% for the first time since May 2022. 

However, the potential trade deal with the U.S. — allegedly the main reason for India reducing cheap Russian oil imports — is currently in limbo following the U.S. Supreme Court’s February 20 decision striking down that country’s reciprocal tariffs. 

Statement from Treasury Department 

After Mr. Bessent’s tweet a statement from the Department of Treasury titled ‘Authorizing the Delivery and Sale of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products of Russian Federation Origin Loaded on Vessels as of March 5, 2026 to India’ said that “all transactions prohibited… that are ordinarily incident and necessary to the sale, delivery, or offloading of crude oil or petroleum products of Russian Federation origin loaded on any vessel, including vessels blocked under the above listed authorities, on or before 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time, March 5, 2026 are authorised through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, April 4, 2026, provided that the delivery or offloading of such crude oil or petroleum products occurs at a port” in India and the purchaser of such crude oil or petroleum products is an entity organised under the laws of India.