‘Temporary move’: US Energy Secy says no shift on Russia after letting India buy Russian oil

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the United States has reached out to India to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea, calling it a temporary measure aimed at easing pressure on global energy markets after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz. 

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Speaking in an interview with ABC News, Wright explained that several shipments of Russian crude are currently floating in storage and that moving them quickly into Indian refineries would help stabilise oil prices at a time when global supply chains are under strain. 

“So there's a bunch of floating barrels just sitting there. We've reached out to our friends in India and said, buy that oil, bring it into your refineries,” Wright said. “That pulls stored oil immediately into Indian refineries and releases the pressure on other refineries around the world to buy oil that they're no longer competing with the Indians for in that marketplace.” 

The remarks come after the United States granted India a 30-day waiver allowing it to buy Russian oil shipments that are currently stranded at sea. According to Wright, the step is a short-term market intervention and does not represent a broader change in Washington’s policy towards Russia. 

“We have a number of measures like that that are short-term and temporary. This is no change in policy towards Russia. This is a very brief change in policy just to keep oil prices down a little bit better than we could otherwise,” he said. 

Global energy markets have been rattled after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz following US and Israeli strikes on the country, triggering retaliatory measures from Tehran. The waterway is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, carrying a large share of global oil and gas exports. 

The disruption has paralysed shipping through the strait and raised fears of supply shortages, pushing oil prices higher in Asian markets on Thursday as traders assessed the risk of prolonged closure. 

Wright, however, said the price surge is likely to be temporary and expressed confidence that global supply will stabilise once tensions ease. 

“This will definitely be temporary,” he said in a separate interview on Fox News. “We have the world just massively well-supplied, abundant oil around the world, and American production at record highs. So we'll get through this — it’ll be a bump in the road.” 

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has pledged to provide insurance guarantees and naval escorts for ships exporting energy from the region in an effort to contain soaring transportation costs and ensure the continued flow of supplies.