Through May 16: The U.S. has extended the suspension of sanctions on Russian oil
18 April 08:35
The U.S. has extended until May 16 the license to sell Russian oil and petroleum products that have already been loaded onto tankers, Reuters reported on Saturday, April 18, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that Washington would not extend the exemption.
Previous U.S. easing of restrictions on Russian oil exports was introduced on March 13 amid rising energy prices caused by the war in Iran and remained in effect for 30 days—until April 11. At the time, Bessent called it a “targeted and short-term” measure that was not expected to significantly impact Moscow’s oil revenues.
Russia’s oil export revenues doubled
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported on April 13 that following the easing of U.S. sanctions, Russia was receiving over $100 million in additional revenue daily from oil sales. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Russia’s oil revenue nearly doubled in March compared to February due to the war in the Middle East, reaching $19 billion.
At the same time, the easing of U.S. sanctions against Russia did not significantly affect global oil prices, the rise of which the Donald Trump administration had sought to balance, the NYT noted. The reason is that a significant portion of Russian oil is transported by “shadow fleet” tankers, circumventing international restrictions, the publication reported.
