US Allows Sanctions Waiver on Russian Oil to Expire

A tugboat guides a Russian oil tanker as it arrives at the oil terminal in the port of Matanzas, Cuba, on March 31, 2026. Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty ImagesThe U.S. government has allowed an April 17 sanctions waiver on certain Russian oil shipments to expire, ending a policy that permitted some Russian crude already loaded onto tankers to continue being sold and transported through global markets without triggering U.S. sanctions penalties.The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control did not reissue the Russia-related waiver. It was introduced in April as global energy markets faced pressure from the Middle East conflict and the disruptions that have occurred at the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes. An estimated 20 million barrels of crude and petroleum products traveled through that waterway each day before the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran.