White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki holds a press briefing on the US response after Russia launched a large-scale military operation against Ukraine at the White House in Washington, DC, February 24, 2022. REUTERS / Leah Millis
WASHINGTON, March 2 – The United States is open to imposing sanctions on Russian oil and gas flows, but continued exports could now help Moscow, the White House said on Wednesday after oil prices jumped to a new level. -annual peak and installed supply interruptions.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House imposed sanctions on technology exports to Russian refineries and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which were never released. So far, it has not focused on Russia’s oil and gas exports, as the Biden administration weighs its impact on global oil markets and US energy prices.
“We have no strategic interest in cutting global energy supplies … which would raise gasoline prices for Americans,” spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre told a White House briefing.
The administration has warned that it could block Russian oil if Moscow intensifies its aggression against Ukraine. “It’s a lot on the table, but we need to consider what the impact will be,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told MSNBC earlier Wednesday.
National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti told MSNBC that the White House still does not want to make a move.
“The pursuit of Russian oil and gas at this time would have an effect on US consumers and could in fact be counterproductive to raising the price of oil and gas internationally, which could mean more profits for the Russian oil industry.” , he said.
“So we don’t want to go there right now.”
The Biden administration has sought to say it is not yet focused on Russian oil sales as part of the broad economic sanctions it imposed on Moscow last week. Read more
However, traders and banks have shied away from supplying Russian oil through pipelines and tankers so as not to be seen as financing the invasion, sending energy markets into chaos. Read more
And some U.S. lawmakers have passed legislation that analysts say could lead to higher gasoline prices.
The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Energy Committee has proposed a bill that would ban imports of Russia’s crude, liquid fuels and liquefied natural gas. The United States imports an average of more than 20.4 million barrels of raw and refined products per month in 2021, from Russia, about 8% of liquid fuel imports to the United States, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Sen. Lisa Markowski are working to get support for their bill, a Manchin spokesman said.
And the United States has imposed sanctions on Russian oil refineries, banning the export of specific technologies, a move that could make it difficult for Russia to modernize those plants. Read more
Nearly a week after Moscow invaded Ukraine, US crude ended Wednesday at $ 110.60 a barrel, the highest since May 2011, while the global Brent benchmark peaked at June 2014 at $ 112.93. Read more
Meanwhile, OPEC + oil producers, meeting on Wednesday, agreed to stick to their modest increase in production, offering little relief to the market or consumers. Read more
On Tuesday, the United States and its allies agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil stocks to help compensate for supply disruptions.
“We want to minimize the impact on the global market … and the impact of energy prices on the American people,” Psaki said. “We are not trying to hurt ourselves, we are trying to hurt President Putin and the Russian economy.”
Report by Doina Chikau, Timothy Gardner, Susan Heavy and Valerie Volkovichi; writing by Timothy Gardner, editing by Louise Havens and Alistair Bell
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