U.S. Temporarily Allows Countries to Buy Russian Oil Already at Sea
U.S. Temporarily Allows Countries to Buy Russian Oil at Sea to Stabilize Global Prices
In an effort to calm surging global oil prices, the United States Department of the Treasury has introduced a temporary policy allowing countries to purchase Russian oil shipments that are already at sea.
The measure will remain in effect for 30 days, until April 11, and is aimed at easing pressure on the global energy market.
On March 12, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the decision in a post on the social media platform X.
He explained that the United States is “temporarily allowing countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea” as a short-term step to stabilize energy supplies and prevent further price spikes.
According to Bessent, the measure is strictly limited in scope and applies only to oil shipments that had already been loaded and were in transit before the policy was announced. He emphasized that the decision will not significantly increase revenue for the Russian government, noting that most of Moscow’s energy income is generated through taxes that are assessed when the oil is extracted rather than when it is sold.
Further details released on the Treasury Department’s official website clarify that the exemption applies to Russian crude oil and petroleum products that were loaded onto ships before or at 12:01 AM (U.S. time) on March 12. Countries will be allowed to complete purchases of these shipments until 12:01 PM on April 11, after which the exemption will expire.
The announcement came just one day after the United States Department of Energy said it would release 172 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This release is part of a larger coordinated effort among members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which collectively announced a plan on March 11 to inject about 400 million barrels of oil into global markets in order to curb rising fuel prices.
Despite these measures, oil prices have continued to climb. Global benchmark prices are currently trading around $95 to $100 per barrel, reflecting ongoing supply concerns and geopolitical tensions affecting energy markets.
This is not the first time Washington has granted such a temporary exemption. Earlier, the Treasury Department allowed India to purchase Russian oil that was already at sea for a similar 30-day window. According to sources cited by Bloomberg, New Delhi purchased approximately 30 million barrels of Russian crude after receiving that permission.
India emerged as one of the largest buyers of Russian oil following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when Western sanctions pushed Moscow to redirect exports toward Asian markets at discounted prices. However, in recent months India has reportedly reduced its purchases after reaching new trade understandings with Washington.
Meanwhile, data reported by The Guardian suggests that Russia may have earned around €6 billion (about $6.9 billion) from exports of fossil fuels—including crude oil, natural gas, and coal—in just two weeks after tensions in the Middle East escalated. A study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) also indicated that the average price of these energy products has risen about 14% this month compared with February, highlighting the impact of geopolitical instability on global energy costs.
Since the start of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Russian oil has faced strict restrictions from Western nations. The United States, the European Union, and members of the Group of Seven imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow’s energy sector. These measures include bans on importing Russian crude oil and many petroleum products, as well as a price cap system designed to limit Russia’s earnings from energy exports.
Under the price cap rules, Western shipping companies, insurers, and financial institutions are only allowed to provide services for Russian oil shipments if the oil is sold below $48 per barrel. In addition, dozens of oil tankers suspected of helping Russia circumvent sanctions through shadow shipping networks have been blacklisted.
Analysts say the new 30-day exemption reflects Washington’s attempt to balance sanctions on Russia with the need to stabilize global energy markets, especially at a time when supply disruptions and geopolitical tensions continue to push oil prices higher.
He called me a “glorified secretary.”
My three-star general stepfather humiliated me in front of two hundred officers at Fort Bragg.
He called me a “glorified secretary.”
Then he told the entire room I only carried his last name because he was generous enough to allow it.
The officers laughed.
I didn’t flinch.
I didn’t defend myself.
I didn’t even look away.
Because seconds later, the auditorium doors flew open.
And a JSOC colonel marched straight toward me carrying a red TOP SECRET folder.
My name is Claire Bradley.
For thirty-three years, Lieutenant General Richard Bradley had treated me like an unwanted attachment to his family name.
Something he tolerated.
Something he could belittle whenever an audience was watching.
That morning, he stood behind a microphone in the Fort Bragg auditorium with three silver stars gleaming across his uniform.
His voice cut through the room.
“Who gave you permission to speak?”
He stared directly at me.
“Sit down.”
The auditorium went still.
Then Richard gave me the same cold, superior look I had seen my entire life.
“You’re allowed to wear the Bradley name because I’ve been charitable enough to let you.”
Laughter rippled through the room.
I was sitting in Row Z.
Seat 14.
The very last row.
Exactly where Richard believed I belonged.
He leaned closer to the microphone.
“In this room, you’ll always be a zero.”
Another wave of laughter.
Then came the part he wanted me to remember.
“Don’t disgrace my reputation.”
I kept my expression perfectly still.
Richard had always been obsessed with the idea of “Bradley warrior DNA.”
He talked about it at dinners.
At military functions.
At family gatherings.
Especially when he bragged about his biological son, Tyler.
According to Richard, Tyler represented everything the Bradley name stood for.
Strength.
Discipline.
Leadership.
There was just one problem.
Tyler had been thrown out of West Point after repeatedly failing fitness standards.
Richard never mentioned that part.
Instead, he polished Tyler’s reputation until it shined like one of the medals on his chest.
Me?
I was the family embarrassment.
The stepdaughter who supposedly never accomplished anything important.
A glorified secretary.
A woman who spent her days buried behind a desk filing logistics reports.
That was the version of me Richard wanted everyone to believe.
Three nights earlier, at the Officers’ Club, he had shoved a junior captain aside just so he could order me to bring a senator a gin and tonic.
Not ask.
Order.
Like I was waitstaff.
Like I worked for him.
Like I was nothing.
Richard needed everyone around him to believe I was weak.
Insignificant.
Forgettable.
So I let him.
That morning, I stayed seated while the laughter slowly died away.
Richard stood beneath the lights looking completely satisfied with himself.
Then the auditorium doors burst open.
Every head turned.
Colonel Nathan Vance of Joint Special Operations Command stepped inside.
He wasn’t wearing the immaculate dress uniform Richard loved displaying.
Vance wore a faded tactical jacket.
Battered combat boots.
The kind of clothes that looked like they had actually been somewhere dangerous.
And he wasn’t walking casually.
He was advancing.
Straight down the aisle.
Straight toward the front.
Richard’s expression changed immediately.
He stiffened behind the podium.
“Colonel, listen here—”
Vance didn’t slow down.
He reached the stage.
Richard moved as if he intended to stop him.
Vance brushed past him with one hard movement of his shoulder.
No apology.
No hesitation.
Then he kept walking.
Down the center aisle.
Past row after row of officers.
The laughter disappeared.
So did the whispers.
Within seconds, the entire auditorium was silent.
Major Thomas Yates, Richard’s favorite shadow, suddenly found the floor fascinating.
I watched Colonel Vance approach.
One row closer.
Then another.
Then another.
Until he finally stopped beside my table.
Up close, I caught the faint metallic smell of gun solvent clinging to his jacket.
Vance looked at me.
Then he reached inside his coat.
The movement made several officers shift in their seats.
He pulled out a red folder.
Not an ordinary military file.
The folder was reinforced with steel mesh.
Pentagon flash traffic.
Stamped across the front were two words that every officer in that auditorium recognized immediately.
TOP SECRET.
Vance slammed it onto the table in front of me.
The sound cracked through the auditorium.
Then he spoke.
Quietly.
Firmly.
“My asset.”
His eyes never left mine.
“Right now.”
No one laughed.
From the front of the auditorium, Richard finally found his voice.
But it sounded different now.
Smaller.
Less certain.
“Colonel, you’ve made a mistake.”
Vance didn’t turn around.
Richard continued.
“She handles administrative logistics.”
Nothing.
“She files paperwork.”
Still nothing.
Then Richard tried the one argument he thought mattered most.
“She’s my stepdaughter.”
Vance remained perfectly still.
Richard’s voice sharpened.
“She isn’t under your jurisdiction.”
I said nothing.
Colonel Vance didn’t even bother looking at him.
I placed both palms flat against the table.
Then I stood.
The plastic chair scraped backward across the floor.
In the silence, the sound seemed deafening.
Two hundred officers turned toward me.
Men and women who had been laughing less than a minute earlier were now staring without saying a word.
I looked toward the stage.
For the first time that morning, my stepfather was no longer smiling.
Because Richard Bradley finally understood something.
The red folder sitting between Colonel Vance and me wasn’t there by accident.
JSOC didn’t send a colonel racing into a three-star general’s auditorium to retrieve someone who merely filed paperwork.
And Pentagon flash traffic didn’t come wrapped in steel mesh for a glorified secretary.
That folder meant only one thing.
The woman Richard Bradley had spent decades calling useless was connected to something classified enough that even a three-star general had never been told.
And judging by the look on his face...
He was finally beginning to realize just how little he knew about me.
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