US allows countries to buy Russian oil already at sea as Iran war hits supplies in Freight News 14/03/2026 The U.S. Treasury on Thursday evening issued a 30-day license allowing countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum goods currently out at sea, in a move aimed at stabilizing global energy markets rattled by the Iran war. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a notice that countries could purchase any Russian oil and petroleum products that were put out to sea before March 12, with the notice valid until April 11. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move aimed at promoting “stability in global energy markets” and to “keep prices low as we address the threat and instability posed by the terrorist Iranian regime.” Washington had earlier this week loosened some restrictions on Russian oil, especially for major importers such as India, to help offset the impact of the Iran war. The U.S. move comes amid heightened hostilities in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which saw several tanker attacks and port disruptions in and around the Persian Gulf. Central to this was the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping passage for roughly 20% of the world’s oil consumption. Iran was seen attacking international ships around the strait. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei also said on Thursday that Tehran will keep the strait closed as leverage against the U.S. and Israel. Oil prices had shot up on the development, with Brent crossing $100/barrel for the second time this week. But prices fell after the U.S. Treasury’s announcement. Source: Investing.com 2026-03-14 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share