The United States has said its decision to grant India a temporary waiver to purchase certain Russian oil supplies is a short-term move aimed at stabilising global crude prices amid supply disruptions linked to tensions in the Middle East.US energy secretary Chris Wright said the measure is intended to quickly bring oil stored in floating reserves into the global market and ease immediate supply constraints.

Speaking to ABC News Live, Wright said large volumes of Russian crude are currently stored in tankers around southern Asia and that Washington had encouraged India to buy these cargoes.“We need to get oil on the market in the short term. In the long term, supplies are abundant. There’s no worry there,” Wright said, adding that the temporary step was necessary as oil prices were rising due to constraints in shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz.“As oil gets bid up a little bit because of those constraints coming out of the Straits of Hormuz, we’re taking a short-term action to say all this floating Russian oil storage that’s around southern Asia,” he said.Wright said the US had asked India to absorb those cargoes. “We’ve reached out to our friends in India and said, ‘Buy that oil. Bring it into your refineries.’ That pulls stored oil immediately into Indian refineries and releases the pressure on other refineries around the world,” he added.He stressed that the waiver does not represent a shift in Washington’s stance toward Moscow. “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,” Wright said.Earlier in the day, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced a 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil cargoes stranded at sea.“To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the treasury department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” Bessent said in a post on X.

Indian refiners step up purchases

Following the waiver, Indian refiners have begun purchasing large volumes of Russian oil floating in Asian waters, reported news agency PTI, citing sources.The companies have snapped up around 20 million barrels of crude, mostly from non-sanctioned entities, though they are seeking legal clarity on whether the exemption also allows purchases from sanctioned firms.The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a licence permitting the delivery and offloading of Russian crude loaded on vessels before March 5, 2026, with transactions allowed until April 4, 2026.The move comes as the widening West Asia conflict disrupts energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 40–50 per cent of India’s crude imports typically pass.India, which holds reserves covering roughly 25 days of crude demand, has turned to Russian cargoes at sea to ensure domestic fuel supplies remain stable. Indian refiners had already been importing about one million barrels of Russian oil per day in recent months.Industry estimates cited by PTI suggest around 15 million barrels of Russian crude are currently floating in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, while additional cargoes are waiting near Singapore and other routes that could reach Indian ports within weeks.Analysts say the waiver provides short-term relief for India’s energy security, though competition from other buyers, particularly China, may limit the volume of additional Russian oil available.

Global stock markets have continued to take a hammering as oil prices rocketed in their biggest weekly gain for six years, with no sign of a swift resolution to the conflict in the Middle East.

London’s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.6% lower at one stage before closing about 130 points, or 1.2%, lower at 10,284.75 on Friday.

Declines were compounded by heavy falls on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes down about 1.1% after European markets had closed.

Gloomy jobs data in the US were adding to market woes, and there were similar declines across Europe as the Dax in Germany and France’s Cac 40 were both 1.5% down at one stage, before paring back some of the losses to close 0.9% and 0.7% lower, respectively.

By Friday evening, benchmark Brent crude prices shot up by as much as another 10% to 94 US dollars a barrel, reaching levels not seen for three years, after Kuwait reportedly joined Qatar and said it was beginning to halt energy production.

The sharp gains since the US-Israel war with Iran began on Saturday mean oil prices have risen by more than 25% so far this week – the biggest weekly gains since early 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Comments from US President Donald Trump that there would be no end to the conflict until an “unconditional surrender” of the Iranian regime has further dashed hopes of a de-escalation.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: “There is not much to stop (oil) from hitting 100 dollars per barrel in the near term.

“Until the oil price stabilises it’s hard to see how stock markets and bond prices can recover.”

She cautioned over further stock market falls next week.

“If the war continues to escalate over the weekend, we think that markets will continue to sell off, especially after the rapid increase in oil prices today,” she said.

UK Government borrowing costs have also risen sharply this week due to inflation fears.

The yields on 10-year government bonds, also known as gilts, have jumped from 4.27% at the start of the week to 4.62% on Friday, with fears that soaring fuel and energy bills will put paid to further interest rate cuts.

“The rapid repricing of monetary policy expectations and the UK’s history of high energy prices means that UK gilts are particularly vulnerable to this energy price spike,” Ms Brooks said.

Hyderabad: India’s pharmaceutical sector is staring at potential losses of Rs 2,500– Rs 5,000 crore if March exports to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the wider West Asia and North Africa (WANA) are completely disrupted by the ongoing West Asia conflict, which is intensifying pressure on freight, shipping routes, and delivery schedules, according to the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil). GCC countries currently account for 5.58% of India’s total exports, with pharma a growing component of that trade. As per recent industry data, Indian pharmaceutical exports to the WANA region rose from $1,320.44 million in FY 2020-21 to $1,749.68 million in FY 2024-25. Countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and Yemen rely heavily on India for cost-effective medicines, even as momentum grew in emerging markets such as Jordan, Kuwait, and Libya, with increasing demand for vaccines, surgical products, and AYUSH formulations. However, this growth is now at risk due to ongoing challenges in the global freight market. Pharmexcil Chairman Namit Joshi said tensions in West Asia affected critical maritime and air cargo corridors. Key routes such as the Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf shipping corridors are facing heightened risks of rerouting or delays, threatening delivery schedules. This is a concern, especially for temperature-sensitive products that can be damaged by prolonged transit or cold-chain disruptions. According to Pharmexcil, the conflict already put considerable strain on the global freight market, with freight charges for both imports and exports doubling in some cases. “The doubling of freight charges for both imports and exports, accompanied by surcharges of $4,000–$8,000 per shipment, put substantial pressure on Indian pharmaceutical companies,” Joshi said. Another concern is escalating costs across the pharmaceutical supply chain, with major cost drivers including crude oil price fluctuations, rising logistics costs for APIs and finished formulations, and shipping delays that will affect inventory cycles, he said. Pharmexcil said it is monitoring developments and engaging logistics and trade stakeholders for damage control. It recommended closer coordination with govt authorities for possible freight relief measures, diversification of shipping routes and alternative logistics options, and continued dialogue with international regulators to maintain timely availability of medicines in key markets.