President Joe Biden has announced a total ban of all energy products from Russia to the United States of America.
Biden made the decision on Tuesday after bipartisan pressure from the US Congress to cut off all commercial ties with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
“This means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable to US ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to this war machine,” Biden said from the White House.
According to the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), the US imported an average of 209,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 500,000 bpd of other petroleum products from Russia in 2021. Russian crude accounts for three percent of US crude oil imports and about one percent of total crude oil processed by US refineries.
The immediate impact of the ban on gas price in the US will be mitigated by turning to other sellers and accelerating renewable energy supply. Russia will lose several millions of dollars daily and other countries could follow the US to place bans on the importation of Russian petroleum products.
The US government hopes the economic repercussions of this energy embargo will blunt Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine.
