New Delhi: The Donald Trump administration in the United States has allowed a sanctions waiver that encouraged countries, including India, to buy more Russian crude oil to lapse after a brief extension that was meant to ease oil supply shortages and high prices due to the US-Israeli war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.Reuters reported that as of early afternoon Washington time on Saturday (May 16), no renewal notice had been posted on the Treasury website. Previously, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said he would not renew the general license for Russian oil sale.Some countries like India and Indonesia had lobbied Washington for extended waiver after the initial one ended in April. According to a Bloomberg report, the waiver, which applied to a subset of Russian oil that had already been loaded onto tankers, is now effectively expired.Global oil prices have been soaring above USD 100 a barrel for more than two months now. On Friday, the Union government has also hiked petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre, a move slammed by opposition parties for imposing it right after assembly elections ended. The price hike came amid mounting losses of state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) due to surging global crude prices amid the West Asia crisis, even as Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri continued to maintain that there was no fuel supply shortage in the country.Notably, India is the top consumer of Russian crude, and its purchases have been near record highs in April and May following previous sanctions waivers.Last year, the Trump administration had imposed a 25% ‘penalty’ tariff on Indian exports citing the purchase of Russian crude, atop an already heavy 25% ‘reciprocal’ tariff. This penalty was withdrawn earlier this year but Trump had said that his government could consider re-imposing the levy were New Delhi to “directly or indirectly” resume Russian intake.