US Grants 30-Day Waiver Letting India Buy Stranded Russian Crude Amid Hormuz Crisis

Great-power oil diplomacy has a long pedigree: in 1956 Eisenhower relaxed antitrust rules so US majors could reroute crude during the Suez closure, while the 1973 Arab embargo forced Washington to court Tehran and Caracas despite earlier frictions. The 2026 waiver fits this pattern—ideology bends when chokepoints shut. Structurally, it underscores two trends: (1) the erosion of any single bloc’s ability to police commodity flows once cargoes are afloat, and (2) India’s ascent from price-taker to swing processor whose 5.6 mbpd of refining capacity can cushion shocks. Over a century, moments like this show that the petrodollar order survives not by rigid sanctions but by selective forbearance whenever physical barrels are scarce; today’s concession to New Delhi may look minor now yet it signals how multipolar demand centres can extract policy flexibility from Washington whenever strategic waterways—from Suez (1956) to Hormuz (2026)—are threatened.