BREAKING NEWS: Biden “intends to announce a ban on imports of Russian oil, natural gas and coal TODAY” after relentless pressure from the public, as well as Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
- The ban on energy imports will be introduced only by the United States without European allies
- Domestic gas prices rose sharply after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February.
- The US is relatively less dependent on Russian energy compared to Europe
That White House could announce a ban on energy imports from Russia as early as Tuesday, according to a new report.
The president Joe Biden intends to stop buying oil and natural gas in Moscow, as gas station prices in the United States are skyrocketing, according to Bloomberg.
His administration has been under pressure since late last month, when Russia’s authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin ordered unprovoked and bloody invasion of Ukraine.
European allies are reportedly not joining the ban, but US officials have consulted with them.
However, the US is much less dependent on energy imports from Russia than Europe.
In 2020, only about 7 percent of US liquid fuel imports came from Russia, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Sixty percent of Russia’s oil exports go to Europe, about a third of the continent’s oil demand.
Russia is the third largest exporter of crude oil and petroleum products to the US America receives most of its oil and petroleum products imports primarily from Canada, 51.3 percent.
Canada is followed by Mexico (8.4 percent), followed by Russia (7.9 percent) and Saudi Arabia (5.1 percent), according to Energy Information Agency statistics for 2021.
Imports of crude oil used to make gasoline accounted for an even smaller share – Russia provided 3.5% of US crude oil imports. The US gets 61 percent of its crude oil imports from Canada.
Above is a chart of U.S. crude oil imports that does not include other petroleum products.
An elderly woman placed in a shopping cart is carried across a destroyed bridge during the evacuation from the city of Irpin.
The US is under pressure to ban energy imports from Russia after Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers help an elderly woman cross a destroyed bridge during an evacuation from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 8.
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