Washington needed a temporary relief from US sanctions on Russian oil to avoid a scenario of the end of world trade, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said.
“There were scenarios of the end - the price of oil rises to $150, $200, $250“, Besant said at a White House briefing.
According to the minister, issuing a general license to buy Russian oil “helped stabilize prices“.
Besant declined to provide a US estimate of exactly how much oil could have been sold under the general license, acknowledging that the revenue could reach $2 billion. “Let's think about a different world, where the price of oil had risen to $150. Then the Russians would have made a lot more money,” Bessent said.
Earlier on Wednesday, he announced that the United States would not renew its general licenses to buy Russian oil.
In an effort to reduce oil prices, which have risen sharply since the attack on Iran, in March the US authorities exempted from sanctions Russian oil and petroleum products loaded on ships since March 12. Their sale was not subject to any restrictions imposed by Washington. The US Treasury Department license was valid until April 11.