U.S. allows sale of Russian oil loaded on vessels as of March 12, 2026 - Treasury Dept

WASHINGTON. March 13 (Interfax) - The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued a general license authorizing the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products.

OFAC issued Russia-related General License 134 "authorizing the delivery and sale of crude oil and petroleum products of Russian Federation origin loaded on vessels as of March 12, 2026," OFAC said in a statement on its website.

The general license permits "all transactions [...] necessary to the sale, delivery, or offloading of crude oil or petroleum products of Russian Federation origin loaded on any vessel," it said.

At same time, the document prohibits "any transaction or activity involving Iran, the government of Iran, or Iranian-origin goods or services."

The license is in effect through 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 11, 2026, the statement said.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, for his part, said that this authorization to allow countries to purchase Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of March 12, 2026 is a short-term measure and will not provide significant financial benefit to Moscow.

"To increase the global reach of existing supply, U.S. Treasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea. This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government," Bessent wrote on X when commenting on the decision published by OFAC.

The temporary increase in oil prices "is a short-term and temporary disruption that will result in a massive benefit to our nation and economy in the long-term," he said.