U.S. offers India a 30-day waiver for buying Russian oil as Iran war deepens energy supply worries

In this article USO Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT This photograph shows a page on the Marinetraffic website thats shows commercial ship traffic on the edge of the Strait of Hormuz near the Iranian coast on March 4, 2026. Julien De Rosa | Afp | Getty Images After slapping 25% "penalty" tariffs on India for buying Russian crude — revoked last month — the U.S. on Thursday issued a 30-day waiver to New Delhi for purchasing crude from Moscow as the Iran war upends global supplies. The West Texas Intermediate oil surged 8.51%, or $6.35, to close at $81.01 per barrel on Thursday in the biggest single day gain since May 2020. Global benchmark Brent rose 4.93%, or $4.01, to settle at $85.41 per barrel. The waiver on purchasing Russian oil will help ease supply worries globally, as India is the world's fourth biggest refiner and and fifth largest exporter of petroleum products. India, the world's third-largest oil importer, has been replacing Russian oil purchases with supply from Middle East, experts said, but with the conflict affecting energy supplies from the Gulf countries, New Delhi is starting to shore up energy from Moscow. "I've heard that Indian refiners have been actively seeking prompt Russian crude supplies since last weekend," said Muyu Xu, senior research analyst for crude at energy data tracker Kpler, adding that based on "market chatter," New Delhi is likely to have bought up to 6-8 million barrels of Russian oil over the past 2–3 days. watch now VIDEO 4:12 04:12 Iran War supply disruptions could result in India purchasing more Russian crude Inside India This "short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit" to Russia as it only allows transactions of oil already stranded at sea, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessant said in a post on X. The U.S. government is taking steps to curb rising oil prices, including offering political risk insurance for tankers transiting the Gulf. "It [the waiver] is a relief valve, i...