By Emmanuel Nduka
America’s President, Joe Biden, is set to announce a ban on Russian energy as pressure from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers continues to mount in a move that could send gas prices even higher than Tuesday’s record of $4.17 per gallon.
There has been calls to add cut energy supplies as part of more economic sanctions on the Kremlin and oligarchs since Russia’s Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to Bloomberg, European allies, who rely far more on the Kremlin’s energy exports, are reportedly not joining the ban but were consulted by US officials.
The United Kingdom is also moving to announce its own ban on Russian oil imports, which will be phased-in gradually to avoid panic-buying. Politico reports that the blockade will not be extended to natural gas but the measure is still being discussed at Whitehall.
The move comes amid Putin’s threat to shut down Russia’s gas pipeline to Europe in response to a boycott on his country’s energy exports — which could push the price of crude oil to a staggering $300 a barrel.
Prices already shot up to a rate not seen since 2008 on Monday, reaching $140 per barrel.
The American Automobile Association’s (AAA) Chicago branch put out a warning about a ‘tightened supply’ of gas and outlined how Americans can ‘conserve’ their fuel as the market braces for another surge.
The US President’s expected announcement comes as desperate Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes in freezing temperatures while being bombed, shot at and chased. Temperatures in Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s two largest cities that have seen intense shelling, are set to fall to 14F on Tuesday night and will bring bitter conditions to civilians trying to stay warm and Putin’s soldiers trying to turn around his stalled invasion.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, resisted questions about whether the administration would ban Russian energy imports since the start of the invasion while Biden has warned that Putin’s invasion would likely come at a cost to Americans.
The Democratic administration has also come under bipartisan criticism for looking at authoritarian countries like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and even Iran as possible new sources to fill the 3.5 percent of crude oil exports the US gets from Russia.
On Monday, the AAA wrote on Twitter Monday, ‘The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, coupled with already high-demand and a tightened supply are pushing prices much higher at the pump. Here are some ways you can conserve on fuel.’
It was followed by a series of tips urging drivers to: combine errands, use their ‘more fuel-efficient vehicle, ‘remove unnecessary or bulky items from the car and ‘fill up when you have a quarter tank of fuel remaining’.
Meanwhile prices at the pump have reached a nationwide average of $4.17, the highest ever recorded by AAA. The average gas price in California is a record-high $5.44, up from the previous all-time high of $5.34 that was reached on Monday.
Former President Donald Trump had released a furious statement just an hour after reports of the expected Russian oil ban broke. “BREAKING NEWS: HIGHEST GAS PRICES IN HISTORY! DO YOU MISS ME YET?” Trump said in a statement through his Save America PAC.
Meanwhile, the US relies far less on Russian energy imports than Europe does. In 2020, only about 7 percent of its liquid fuel imports were from Russia, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The US’ dependence on Russian crude oil and petroleum products however increased significantly during Biden’s first year in office. Imports of Moscow’s crude oil alone surged 162 percent. In 2020, the US imported 28 million barrels of Russian crude oil. Now that number is up to 73 million barrels.
The Energy Information Agency’s data show it still only accounts for about 3.5 percent of total US crude imports last year. By contrast sixty percent of Russia’s oil exports go to Europe, accounting for 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 gets most of its oil and petroleum imports first from Canada, 51.3 percent.
With the new development, US officials appear to be looking for alternative energy sellers to make up for the modest gap left by the expected Russian ban.
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