FT: US weighs sales of sanctioned tankers to new owners

The United States is considering allowing individual sanctioned tankers to be sold to new owners and removing restrictions on the vessels, the Financial Times reported. The aim is to make more tankers available and reduce fuel transport costs, the newspaper said.

A Treasury official told the FT that the Office of Foreign Assets Control could authorise such transactions if buyers intended to return the vessels to lawful commercial shipping. Sanctions removal would be considered separately for each ship, the official said.

Reuters previously reported, citing a US official, that Washington was discussing allowing sanctioned tankers to carry crude and petroleum products not subject to US restrictions. That proposal concerns the use of vessels, rather than blanket permission to transport sanctioned Russian or Iranian oil.

According to the FT, Energy Secretary Chris Wright discussed possible relief at the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh. The newspaper linked the initiative to the administration's efforts to curb diesel prices before November's congressional elections.

A separate Treasury General License 135, issued on October 9, already authorises specified transactions involving the sale, delivery, offloading and importation of Russian diesel until April 7, 2027. It does not authorise debits to accounts held at US financial institutions by Russia's central bank, National Wealth Fund or Finance Ministry.