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Updated - May 18, 2026 at 11:28 PM.

| WASHINGTON

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move is aimed at improving market flexibility, stabilising crude flows, and ensuring supplies reach energy-vulnerable countries. | Photo Credit: TOM NICHOLSON

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on ‌Monday that the United States is ⁠issuing a 30-day general license to provide temporary access ‌to Russian oil stranded at sea.

“This ‌extension will ‌provide ⁠additional flexibility, and ⁠we will work with these nations to provide specific licenses ‌as needed. This general license will help stabilize the physical crude market ‌and ensure oil reaches the most energy-vulnerable countries,” Bessent ⁠wrote on X.

Waiver aimed at easing supply disruptions

The United States had initially ‌issued the waiver in a bid to ease oil supply shortages and high prices due ‌to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid a ⁠U.S.-Israeli offensive, but the move ⁠has done little to calm ‌U.S. gasoline prices.

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Published on May 18, 2026

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