Joe Biden Calls Russian Oil Import Ban a 'Powerful Blow to Putin's War Machine'

In retribution for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced an embargo on Russian oil and other energy imports on Tuesday, highlighting broad bipartisan support for a measure that he admitted would raise US energy costs.

The announcement sent oil prices soaring, with Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 for May up 5.4 percent to $129.91 a barrel. Biden has been working with European partners who are significantly more reliant on Russian oil to isolate Putin and Russia's energy-intensive economy.

Biden Announces Ban On Russian Oil

Shortly before Biden's statements, the United Kingdom stated that it will phase out the purchase of Russian oil and oil derivatives by the end of 2022. Sanctions imposed by the US and its allies have already led the Russian economy to "crater," according to Biden, who said that the new actions were decided in close cooperation with friends and partners throughout the world.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the United States imported more than 20.4 million barrels of crude and refined products per month on average from Russia in 2021, accounting for about 8% of US liquid fuel imports, and the ban is expected to drive up already high gasoline prices and inflation. In addition, the United States imports a little amount of coal from Russia.

Biden projected that as a result of "Putin's conflict," prices will rise even more, but vowed to do everything he could to mitigate the impact on the American people. He also urged US gas providers against profiting or price gouging by taking advantage of the situation, according to Reuters.

The European Union will pledge this week to reduce its dependency on Russia for energy as quickly as possible, but filling the hole without damaging EU economies will take time. The UK, which is no longer a member of the EU, stated on Tuesday that it will phase out Russian oil and oil products by the end of the year.

Unlike the United States, which is a significant oil and gas producer, Europe imports 90% of its gas and 97% of its oil products. Russia provides 40% of Europe's natural gas and a fifth of its oil. Russian natural gas is not imported into the United States.

Russian Oil Ban Creates Conflict For Biden To Decide Faster

For the president, the subject of oil sanctions has created tension between domestic political goals and measures to inflict costs on Russia. Even though Russian oil accounts for a minor percentage of US imports, Biden has stated that he is hesitant to impose a ban since it would reduce supply and raise gasoline costs.

As a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its international partners have sanctioned Russia's main banks, central bank, and finance ministry, as well as tried to restrict specific financial institutions from using the SWIFT international payment messaging system.

However, the Treasury Department's guidelines enable Russian energy transactions to continue to be processed through non-US sanctioned institutions in order to avoid any disruptions to global energy markets, asper AP News.

Republicans, who were formerly divided over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have come together to urge an oil embargo, which is seen as a hardline reaction to despotic Russian President Vladimir Putin - and which will undoubtedly lead to increased gas prices, giving Republicans more political ammo.

For liberals, prohibiting Russian oil - or any oil, for that matter - is a step toward diminishing global reliance on fossil fuels and petro-state leaders' influence, while higher gas costs encourage customers to adopt electric vehicles.

These mutual interests drew together an odd bedfellows coalition of politicians from the political right and left, who this week began drafting legislation to prohibit Russian oil imports. They are also broadly unified in their opposition to obtaining more oil from Venezuela, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, for similar reasons, NBC News reported.