U.S. Grants Temporary Sanctions Relief for Russian Oil Shipments Loaded Before March 12

The U.S. government has temporarily allowed certain activities related to Russian crude oil and petroleum products that were already loaded onto ships before March 12, 2026 (12:01 a.m. EDT). Even if these ships or companies are normally under sanctions, transactions needed to sell, deliver, or unload that oil are permitted for a limited time.

This permission lasts until April 11, 2026. The idea is to allow businesses and ships to complete deals that had already started before the deadline instead of suddenly stopping them while the oil is already at sea.

The authorization also covers normal services needed to handle those shipments safely. This includes allowing ships to dock or anchor, ensuring crew safety, doing emergency repairs, protecting the environment, and providing services like ship management, crewing, bunkering, piloting, insurance, registration, flagging, classification, and salvage.

However, this licence does not allow any new transactions involving Russian oil after March 12, 2026. It only applies to shipments that were already loaded before that time. It also does not allow activities that are banned under other sanctions, including any transactions involving Iran or Iranian-origin goods and services that are prohibited by the Iranian transactions and sanctions regulation (31 CFR part 560).

USA lifts sanctions on Russian Oil for all nations for 30 days as Oil Price rise pic.twitter.com/3IaT7dtApp

— Pratibha Goyal (@PratibhaGoyal) March 13, 2026