US lets Russia oil waiver lapse

The U.S. Treasury allowed a sanctions waiver covering some Russian seaborne oil cargoes to expire on May 16, ending a temporary authorization that had been extended last month. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, had issued General License 134B on April 17 to permit transactions tied to Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products that had already been loaded on vessels by that date. Treasury did not post a renewal notice by early afternoon in Washington on May 16, according to Reuters and other market reports. The lapse closes a channel that had allowed buyers including India to keep taking delivery of some Russian cargoes while oil markets were strained by the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. ### Which waiver expired, and what exactly did it allow? OFAC issued General License 134B on April 17, 2026, under multiple Russia- and Iran-related sanctions authorities. The license authorized transactions “ordinarily incident and necessary” to the sale, delivery or offloading of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels on or before 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 17. It remained in effect through 12:01 a.m. EDT on May 16. (usnews.com) The license also spelled out the operational services it covered. OFAC said those transactions included docking, anchoring, crew safety, emergency repairs, environmental mitigation, vessel management, bunkering, piloting, registration, flagging, insurance, classification and salvage. ### How did this differ from the earlier India-specific waiver? General License 133, issued in March, was narrower. OFAC said that license covered Russian crude and petroleum products loaded on vessels on or before 12:01 a.m. (ofac.treasury.gov) EST on March 5, 2026, and allowed delivery or offloading through 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 4, provided the cargo went to a port in India and the purchaser was an entity organized under Indian law. (ofac.treasury.gov) April’s General License 134B broadened that approach. The newer license no longer limited the authorization to Indian ports or Indian buyers, according to the text posted by OFAC. Reuters reported that countries including India had been able to buy Russian seaborne oil under the temporary waiver. ### Why had Washington extended the waiver in the first place? Reuters reported that the Trump administration had extended the waiver for a month to ease oil supply shortages and high prices after Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. (ofac.treasury.gov) Bloomberg reported on May 16 that the administration let the waiver lapse even as the Iran war had fueled concern about tighter global supplies and higher fuel costs. (ofac.treasury.gov) Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, had signaled weeks earlier that the waiver would not be renewed. Bloomberg reported that Bessent said on April 15, “We will not be renewing the general license on Russian oil,” and AP also reported that he said the United States did not plan to renew the waiver. ### Who pushed for the waiver to end? (usnews.com) Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren, two senior Democratic senators, urged the administration on May 15 not to extend General License 134B. A Senate Foreign Relations Committee posting said the senators argued the waiver was allowing purchases of Russian oil loaded on vessels as of April 17 and should not be renewed when it expired. Reuters reported that the senators said the waiver was providing revenue to Russia for its war in Ukraine while there was no evidence it was lowering fuel costs for U.S. consumers. (bloomberg.com) That pressure came a day before the authorization expired. ### What changes now that the license has lapsed? May 16 is the operative date in the license text. Without a new general license, the temporary authorization for transactions tied to those already-loaded Russian cargoes has ended, based on OFAC’s published expiration time. (foreign.senate.gov) Treasury’s next formal signal will come through OFAC’s recent-actions page or its archive of Russia-related general licenses. As of May 17, OFAC’s public listings still showed General License 134B dated April 17, 2026, and Reuters reported no renewal notice had been posted on May 16. (straitstimes.com) (ofac.treasury.gov 1) (ofac.treasury.gov 2)