US allows Russian oil sanctions waiver to lapse cutting revenue stream funding Russias war effort

General License 134B, the US Treasury waiver permitting purchases of Russian seaborne crude already loaded on tankers, expired at 12:01 a.m. EDT on May 16 with no renewal, cutting off a sanctions relief mechanism that had provided Russia's incremental oil revenue. The waiver was first issued in March amid the Iran war and near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which had tightened global supply and pushed crude toward $100/barrel, then extended once in April after Bessent reversed an earlier non-renewal pledge following pressure from over 10 energy-vulnerable nations. India and Indonesia lobbied for another extension, but Senators Shaheen and Warren publicly urged the administration to let it lapse, arguing the waiver was directly funding Moscow's war effort. Expiration now forecloses Russian oil sales that would otherwise be sanctionable, though the tight-market context from the Iran war raises near-term supply concerns.