General License U
OFAC waiver authorising Iranian crude sales from pre-20-March vessels; expires 19 April 2026.
Last refreshed: 2 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Does GL-U's April expiry give Washington leverage over Tehran?
Latest on General License U
- What is General License U?
- A US Treasury waiver issued 20 March 2026 authorising sale of Iranian crude oil loaded on vessels before that date. It expires 19 April and does not restore banking access.Source: background
- When does General License U expire?
- 19 April 2026. No renewal signal has come from Treasury. If it lapses, 128 million barrels of stranded Iranian crude lose their legal market.Source: background
- Who can buy Iranian oil under GL-U?
- In practice, only Reliance Industries in India. GL-U authorises the commodity transaction but not banking, so only buyers with existing settlement workarounds can execute.Source: background
- How much Iranian oil is stranded at sea?
- Approximately 128 million barrels in floating storage or transit, according to Windward maritime intelligence.Source: quick_facts
- Why does GL-U matter for oil prices?
- If GL-U lapses on 19 April without renewal, 128 million barrels lose their legal market and the oil supply shock deepens. Brent is already at $105.53.Source: background
Background
US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License U on 20 March 2026, authorising the purchase and transport of Iranian crude oil loaded on vessels on or before that date. The licence functions as a narrow, time-limited carve-out to Iran's oil sanctions, and expires on 19 April 2026 with no renewal signal from Treasury as of 1 April.
The practical effect was to allow existing cargoes in transit to reach buyers without triggering secondary sanctions. The first confirmed delivery under GL-U was the Aframax tanker PING SHUN, which delivered 600,000 barrels from Kharg Island to Vadinar, India, purchased by Reliance Industries — the first Iranian crude delivery to India since May 2019.
The licence is widely read as a sanctions pressure valve: it lets Washington demonstrate economic restraint while keeping the threat of full enforcement live. Its hard expiry on 19 April creates a built-in escalation mechanism — non-renewal would reimpose full sanctions on any Iranian crude trade, sharpening pressure on Tehran at a critical moment in negotiations.
