US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday a US ban on Russian energy imports Including oil and gasreinforcing a campaign of pressure on Moscow in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
The move came as Western-allied countries work to disconnect Russia from the global economy and punish Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Today I announce that the United States is targeting the main artery of the Russian economy.”
“We are banning all imports of Russia’s oil, gas and energy,” Biden said in a letter from the White House. This means that Russian oil will no longer be accepted in American ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.
“This is a step we are taking to inflict more pain on Putin,” Biden said.
The UK announced its own restrictions on buying Russian oil imports ahead of Biden’s speech, saying it would phase out the country’s imports by the end of the year. The European Union earlier Tuesday morning unveiled a plan to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels.
“We simply cannot rely on a resource that openly threatens us,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a press release announcing the plan.
The United Kingdom also announced its own plans to phase out its dependence on Russian oil imports by the end of the year, while the European Union earlier that morning unveiled a plan to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels.
Biden said the decision to ban Russian oil imports was coordinated with a number of partners.
He addressed the Americans, saying that gasoline prices would rise with the Russian oil embargo.
After Biden announced a ban on all Russian oil imports, Brent crude jumped above $132 a barrel.
US import volume
The United States imported regarding 672,000 barrels per day from Russia in 2021, according to EIA figures. This number constitutes approximately 8% of total US imports of petroleum and refined products.
Most of the country’s imports of crude and oil come from Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, making the United States less dependent on Russian oil than many of its European partners.
The news of the ban sent oil markets up sharply ahead of Biden’s speech on Tuesday morning.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the contracts for oil delivery for the month of April, reached $129.44 a barrel. That level is just below the recent high of $130.50 a barrel hit on March 7, which at the time was the highest price for oil futures contracts since 2008.
Comprehensive penalties
Putin’s actions provoked an unprecedented international reaction, with dozens of countries imposing harsh sanctions on the Kremlin, wealthy people, and even Putin himself.
The Russian currency fell in value and its stock market closed, while a growing list of companies withdrew from their business outside the country.
This includes companies such as Shell, which has pledged to immediately halt all purchases of Russian crude oil and close service stations in the country.
In the United States, Biden has faced calls to target Russian oil, the country’s main export. But with gas prices rising due to fears of supply shortages caused by the Russian war, the US president resisted these calls before announcing the ban on Tuesday.
US gas prices touched an all-time high on the news of a ban on Russian oil imports. A gallon of regular gas rose to a record $4,173 on Tuesday. The previous record was $4,114 in July of 2008.
