America is banning oil imports from Russia ‘to inflict further pain’ on Russian President Vladimir Putin for his war on Ukraine, US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday.
‘Today, I am announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy,’ Biden said from the White House late morning. ‘We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas energy. That means Russian oil will no longer be accepted in US ports, and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.’
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Biden said ‘this is a step we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin’, while acknowledging that ‘it’s going to cost us all in the United States’. However, he said that Republicans and Democrats alike ‘understand that’.
Earlier on Tuesday, sources told various news outlets of the decision before Biden was set to deliver remarks on ‘actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine’.
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The move comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged American and Western officials to cut off Russian oil imports, as had not been done in a series of sanctions already placed on Russia.
Cutting off oil imports is one of Biden’s toughest actions against Putin.
The US is alone in banning Russian oil imports, while consulting closely with its European allies, which are more dependent on energy supplies from Russia. American does not import Russian natural gas, while Europe relies on Russia for one-third of its fossil fuel consumption.
Biden acknowledged that some allies ‘may not be in a position to join us’.
When Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago, Biden had been reluctant to impose energy sanctions, explaining he was trying to ‘to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump’.
Gas prices in the US have been rising for weeks ahead of the possible sanctions on Russia’s energy industry. On Tuesday, prices hit a record high of $4.17 per gallon of unleaded, according to the automobile club AAA.
Biden said that Americans should expect higher gas prices as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to put a strain on energy markets globally.
‘The decision today is not without cost here at home. Putin’s war is already hurting Americans at the gas pump,’ Biden said.
‘Since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders, just since then, the price at the gas pump in America went up 75 cents. And with this action, it’s going to go up further. I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home.’
Biden said that would include watching for any price gouging by oil and gas companies.
‘Russia’s aggression is costing us all and it’s no time for profiteering,’ he said.
Does the US import oil from Russia?
The US’s fracking boom made it the largest oil producer in the world several years ago, but America was still importing millions of barrels daily from other countries including Russia until recently.
Roughly 8% of US imports of oil and refined products, or about 672,000 barrels per day, came from Russia in 2021, according to Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, citing Energy Information Administration numbers.
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