US Treasury secretary rules out new extension of Russian oil waiver

NEW YORK, April 25. /TASS/. In an interview with The Associated Press, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington had no plans of renewing its waiver that allows purchasing Russian oil and oil derivatives that are currently at sea. "I wouldn’t imagine that we’d have another extension. I think the Russian oil on the water has been largely sucked up," he was quoted as saying. Bessent also said the US Department of the Treasury was not planning to issue a new general license that would allow purchasing Iranian oil loaded on tankers. "Not the Iranians," Bessent told The Associated Press. "We have the blockade, and there’s no oil coming out." On March 12, the US Treasury lifted sanctions on operations for the sale of Russian oil and oil products loaded onto ships before that date. On March 19, it updated the license, prohibiting transactions with some Russian regions, North Korea, and Cuba. The permit expired on April 11. At a briefing at the White House on April 15, Bessent said that Washington had no plans to extend exemptions from its sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil on tankers at sea. However, on April 17, the Treasury published a license that allowed until May 16 to sell, transport, and unload oil and oil products of Russian origin loaded onto tankers before April 17.