Strait of Hormuz crisis: US waiver puts 19 million barrels of Russian oil back on market

A temporary waiver issued by the United States has opened the door for buyers to purchase Russian oil cargoes that are already at sea, placing nearly 30 tankers in Asian waters back in the market. According to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, these vessels together are carrying at least 19 million barrels of Russian crude along with around 310,000 tonnes of refined petroleum products.

The refined cargo is largely naphtha, a component used in manufacturing plastics, along with smaller volumes of diesel. Prices for both fuels have risen sharply since Iran disrupted the supply flow throughStrait of Hormuz.





Out of the fleet, 25 tankers are transporting crude oil. Some ships carrying the Sokol grade are positioned near China, while several others loaded with the medium-sour Urals blend are located in the Arabian Sea. Tracking data also shows that many of the ships are currently signalling “for orders”, indicating that their next destination has not yet been decided. Others have listed Singapore or Malaysia as their intended route, locations where tankers frequently anchor while their cargo is marketed to potential buyers.

What it means:

The waiver from the US Treasury allows countries to import Russian crude that had been loaded before Thursday, and will remain valid for one month. The step expands a previous exemption that had already led Indian refiners to purchase the sanctioned oil. The move comes at a time when maritime traffic carrying crude and refined fuels, including diesel and jet fuel, remains heavily disrupted near the Strait of Hormuz, with hundreds of vessels unable to pass through the chokepoint.

“The US decision is ‘buying countries and refiners time to cope with the Mideast supply shock,” said Muyu Xu, senior crude analyst at Kpler Ltd. “Countries will buy whatever they can find — the priority is energy safety for all,” Bloomberg cited the expert.

Meanwhile, China and India have continued purchasing Russian crude and fuel products, which have been offered at discounted prices after US sanctions aimed at restricting Moscow’s access to funds for the war in Ukraine. In contrast, other major importers such as Japan and South Korea have stayed away from buying Russian barrels.

Russia on Friday said that the global energy market “cannot remain stable” without its oil, after the United States issued a temporary waiver allowing the sale of Russian crude that was already in transit. The move comes as energy prices climb amid the intensifying conflict involving Iran, Israel and the US.

Russia’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev said the US decision highlighted the importance of Russian oil to global markets.

"The United States is effectively acknowledging the obvious: without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain stable," Dmitriev wrote on Telegram, according to AFP. Earlier, the US treasury department released a notice “permitting transactions” related to Russian crude oil and petroleum products that had been loaded onto vessels on or before 12.01 am on March 12. The temporary authorisation will remain valid until April 11.

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