US Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Friday explained the reasons behind “allowing” India to buy Russian oil, calling it a temporary measure aimed at relieving pressure on the crude market due to the conflict with Iran.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent had earlier announced the 30-day exemption for India. Wright said it was a “practical way” to get supplies flowing.
“We have implemented short-term measures to help keep oil prices low,” Wright said in a post on X. “We are allowing our friends in India to take oil that is already on board, refine it, and move those barrels to market quickly. It is a practical way to get supplies flowing and relieve pressure.”
Speaking to ABC News, the Energy Minister said this is not a change in policy towards Russia but just a short-term measure.
He said in the interview: “We contacted our friends in India and told them: Buy this oil and bring it to your refineries.”
Listen to what he said:
The United States does not want India to buy Russian oil in normal times, and has even imposed a 25 percent tariff on New Delhi in exchange for doing so. The tariff was canceled early last month after US President Donald Trump said India had agreed not to buy crude oil from Moscow.
Why the exemption now?
The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since then, the conflict has escalated and affected the entire West Asia region.
Iranian retaliatory attacks led to the closure of many oil and gas fields in the region. The Strait of Hormuz, which passes through a fifth of the world’s oil supplies, is effectively closed due to security threats.
All of this led to higher oil prices, so the United States had to intervene.
What Scott Besant said about the 30-day waiver for India
Amid the escalating conflict with Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said Thursday that “President (Donald) Trump’s energy agenda has led to oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded.”
To enable oil to continue flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department issued a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refineries to purchase Russian oil.
“India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully expect New Delhi to increase its purchases of US oil. This stop-gap measure will ease the pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage,” Besant said in a post on X.
This “deliberately short-term measure” would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, Besant said, because it only allows transactions related to oil already stuck in the sea.
