US Treasury grants short-term licence for Russian oil already on tankers, OFAC allows offloading and sale for cargoes loaded before March 12 cutoff, sanctions rigidity bends when supply disruption becomes the immediate risk

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bnonews.com

The US Treasury on Thursday issued a time-limited licence allowing the delivery and sale of Russian-origin crude and petroleum products that were already loaded on vessels before 12:01 a.m. EDT on 12 March, with the authorisation expiring at 12:01 a.m. EDT on 11 April. According to BNO News, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the licence covers transactions “ordinarily necessary” to sell, deliver or offload those cargoes, as well as the practical services that keep ships moving, from docking and bunkering to insurance, classification and salvage.

The fine print matters because it creates a narrow but real market in “sanctions-compliant” Russian barrels: cargoes that are already at sea, already financed, and now explicitly permitted to clear. The licence does not reopen the door to new loadings after the cutoff, and it explicitly excludes other prohibited dealings, including transactions involving Iran or the Iranian government except where the licence specifically allows them. But by drawing a line between barrels loaded before and after a specific minute, Washington also creates a temporary arbitrage window for traders, shipowners and intermediaries who can document timing, route the paperwork through compliant channels, and deliver into buyers still willing to take Russian product.

This is how energy sanctions often behave in practice: as a rationing mechanism that tightens when domestic politics can bear it and loosens when the costs show up at the pump. In the current Middle East war and the associated strain on shipping and insurance, the US has been trying to keep global supply predictable while simultaneously using sanctions as leverage in wider diplomacy. A carve-out for cargoes already afloat reduces the risk of sudden supply disruptions and legal chaos for ports, insurers and crews, while preserving the headline posture that “new” Russian oil remains restricted.

The second-order effect is that enforcement becomes a paperwork contest rather than a physical blockade. Compliance departments, insurers and port operators become gatekeepers; those with better documentation and better lawyers get paid, while others face delays, demurrage and stranded cargo. The licence’s inclusion of crew health and safety, emergency repairs and environmental mitigation also signals what Washington fears most in a hurried cutoff: not lost revenue for Russia but the spillover costs of disrupted shipping—grounded vessels, accidents, and clean-up bills that end up socialised.

The authorisation runs for 30 days. The oil, however, is already on the water.