The Trump administration has allowed a temporary sanctions waiver on Russian oil to expire, ending a short-lived reprieve that had permitted the sale of some blacklisted Russian crude and pulling back from a policy that was intended to help contain surging global oil prices, The New York Times said.

The U.S. Treasury Department last month granted one-month sanctions reprieves to both Russia and Iran, allowing buyers around the world to legally purchase oil the United States had previously blacklisted. The Russian waiver expired on Saturday morning, while the temporary license allowing Iran to sell oil is due to expire on April 19.

The Times said that it remains unclear whether the administration will permit more Russian and Iranian oil to flow despite the strain that higher energy prices are placing on U.S. consumers. 

The Russia waiver had been controversial because it interrupted years of U.S. economic pressure tied to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine while also coinciding with a rise in oil prices that benefited the Kremlin, the Times said. Energy analysts cited by the newspaper estimated that Russia had been earning more than $100 million a day in additional oil revenue because of the exemption and had collected at least $12.8 billion in oil taxes so far in April, roughly double the March figure.

But the relief did little to lower prices because much of Russia’s oil is shipped on a “shadow fleet” of unmarked tankers that already evades international sanctions, the newspaper said. Although Trump’s cease-fire announcement with Iran briefly sent oil prices down, shipping companies remain wary of sending vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, leaving a substantial share of the world’s oil still trapped in the Persian Gulf, the Times said.

Senior Democratic lawmakers previously urged the administration not to ease pressure on Moscow, saying that Treasury had helped Russia and its sanctions-evasion network increase profits without clearly reducing costs for American consumers or easing the global energy crisis, according to the report. 

Read more at The New York Times