On 17 April 2026, the US OFAC issued General License 134B whereby the US lifted for another month (until 16 May 2026) the US restrictions for dealing with Russian seaborne oil loaded on the vessels before the date of its issue. We discussed this unprecedented step in our earlier post when in March 2026 the US temporary lifted its sanctions for the first time.
The measures are in contrast with the EU approach, which tightened sanctions against Russian oil sector in its 20th sanctions’ package. The difference is approach is becomes even more noteworthy given much higher dependence of the EU on the exports of crude/petroleum products, than the US.