US Issues 30-Day Iran Oil Sanctions Waiver; Beasent: Will Supply Global Oil Approximately 140 Million Barrels

Caixin 3/21 News (Editor Liu Rui) On Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the Trump administration has issued a 30-day sanctions waiver allowing the purchase of Iranian oil at sea to ease the pressure on energy supplies since the U.S. and Iran went to war.

The new license permits the sale of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products loaded onto ships as of March 20. The license has been posted on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website.

The U.S. Treasury Department stated in this general license that it allows the sale of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products loaded onto ships between March 20 and April 19.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on X:

“By temporarily releasing existing oil supplies, the U.S. will quickly deliver about 140 million barrels of oil to the global market, expanding global energy supplies and helping to alleviate the temporary supply pressure caused by Iran,”

“Essentially, we will use Iran’s crude oil to counter Tehran, to lower oil prices, while continuing the ‘Epic Fury’ operation.”

In recent weeks, to ease the rising trend of oil prices, the U.S. has repeatedly loosened oil supply restrictions, first relaxing trade restrictions on U.S. companies and Venezuelan oil companies, and temporarily lifting sanctions on some Russian oil.

In fact, Yellen had proposed lifting sanctions on Iranian oil during an interview on Thursday. However, this move faced opposition from some analysts who questioned whether the policy might actually benefit Iran.

Yellen rebutted this analysis in her statement on Friday:

“This temporary short-term authorization is strictly limited to oil already in transit, and does not allow new purchases or production… Iran will find it difficult to gain any revenue from this, and the U.S. will continue to exert maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system.”