* US issues 30-day license for stranded Russian oil

purchases

* Measure the latest by Trump administration to calm

energy markets jolted by Iran war

* IEA says war creating the biggest oil supply disruption

in history

By Ismail Shakil

March 12 (Reuters) - The United States issued a 30-day

license for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products

currently stranded at sea in what Treasury Secretary Scott

Bessent said was a step to stabilize global energy markets

roiled by the Iran war.

The announcement comes a day after the U.S. Energy

Department said that the U.S. would be releasing 172 million

barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve in an effort

to curb sky-rocketing oil prices in the wake of the war in

Iran.

That release was part of a broader commitment by the 32-nation

International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of

oil. The agency said earlier on Thursday that he war in the

Middle East was creating the biggest oil supply disruption in

history.

Bessent, in a statement on X released hours after benchmark oil

prices shot above $100 a barrel, said the measure was "narrowly

tailored" and "short-term" and would not provide significant

financial benefit to the Russian government.

"The temporary increase in oil prices is a short-term and

temporary disruption that will result in a massive benefit to

our nation and economy in the long-term," Bessent said in the

statement, echoing President Donald Trump.

Thursday's license, which authorizes the delivery and sale

of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as

of March 12, will remain valid through midnight Washington time

on April 11, according to the text of the license posted on the

Treasury Department's website.

The U.S. Treasury previously issued a 30-day waiver on March 5

specifically for India, allowing New Delhi to buy Russian oil

stuck at sea.

Among other measures to tame energy prices, Trump has already

ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation

to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for

maritime trade in the Gulf and said the U.S. Navy could escort

ships in the region.

In another attempt to control prices, the Trump administration

is considering temporarily waiving a shipping rule known as the

Jones Act to ensure energy and agricultural products can move

freely between ​U.S. ports, the White House said. Waiving the

rule would allow foreign ships to ​carry fuel between U.S.

​ports, potentially lowering ⁠costs and speeding deliveries.

"The president is taking every action he can to lower prices

... unsanctioned oil that's at sea to get that into the market,

continuing to push our own producers to drill and expand

production as fast and as far as they can, providing regulatory

relief, and you're going to see more and more in the days to

come," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told Fox

News' "Primetime" program on Thursday.

There were about 124 million barrels of Russian-origin oil

on water across 30 different locations globally as of Thursday,

Fox News reported, adding that the U.S. license would provide

around five to six days of supply when taking into account the

daily loss of oil from the Strait.

Trump said earlier on Thursday the United States stood to make

significant money from oil prices driven higher by the war,

prompting criticism from some lawmakers who accused him of

caring only about rich people.

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent response

by Tehran have widened regional tensions and paralyzed shipping

through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting vital Middle East oil

and gas flows and sending energy prices higher.

Raising the stakes for the global economy, Iran's Islamic

Revolutionary Guard Corps says it will block oil shipments from

the Gulf unless the U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil, Christian Martinez and Jasper

Ward; editing by Dan Burns and Lincoln Feast.)