Trump extends sanctions exemption on some Russian oil as high gas prices persist

Just two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States would not extend a sanctions exemption on the sale of some Russian oil, the Treasury Department did just that on Friday, issuing one for about a month.

The renewed license will be in effect until May 16 and supersede the sanctions waiver on Russia that expired on April 11.

The Trump administration has loosened restrictions on Russian oil exports since the war in the Middle East began to rattle energy markets in March. The goal was to lower oil prices by allowing countries to legally purchase hundreds of millions of barrels of crude oil that the United States had blacklisted.

Bessent said at a White House briefing Wednesday that the federal government would not renew the sanctions exemption on Russian oil that was stranded at sea, as well as one on Iranian oil that is set to expire on Sunday.

“That was oil that was on the water prior to March 11,” he said, referring to when the United States first lifted sanctions on Russian oil. “So all of that has been used.”

The last-minute renewal of Russia’s sanctions exemption came as the status of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that once carried a fifth of the world’s oil, remained murky. Iran reopened the strait to all commercial ships earlier Friday, only to close it again less than 24 hours later. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the strait would remain closed until the United States ended its blockade of Iranian ports.

The ceasefire between the United States and Iran is set to expire next week. American and Iranian negotiators are expected to meet for another round of peace talks in Pakistan soon.

A Treasury spokesperson said Saturday that “as negotiations accelerate, Treasury wants to ensure all oil is available to those who need it.”

Trump has downplayed the economic repercussions of the conflict and brushed aside soaring oil and gas prices since the start of the war Feb. 28. The price of regular gasoline in the United States jumped 25% from February to March, the highest monthly percentage increase on record. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, has failed to mellow despite the release of a record amount of oil from countries’ strategic reserves.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 10:27 AM.