U.S. President Biden to Ban Importing of Russian Oil
Posted on 03/08/2022
Russia’s economy is heavily dependent on energy and it is the world’s third biggest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and the United States. Roughly 8% of U.S. oil and refined product imports come from Russia. For the U.K. that amount is around 6% of the country’s oil imports. The European Union gets about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden admitted the move was “not without cost at home”.
“Today I am announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy. We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy,” Biden said at the White House. “That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”
“This is a step we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin,” Biden said.
Germany and the Netherlands rejected the plan the banning of Russian oil plan. Germany and France continue to import oil from Russia. Following the footsteps of Biden, the United Kingdom announced its own plans to phase out its reliance on Russian oil imports by the end of the year.
The result of the ban will likely lead to an increase in the cost of crude oil, thus impacting low to middle-class consumers.
