US weighs sanctions on Russian oil and gas flows

The United States is open to imposing sanctions on Russian oil and gas flows, but attacking its exports now could benefit Moscow, the White House said on Wednesday, as oil prices hit a new 11-year high. and supply interruptions increased.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House imposed sanctions on exports of technologies to Russian refineries and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which did not open. So far it hasn’t hit Russia’s oil and gas exports as the Biden administration assesses the impacts on global oil markets and US energy prices.

“We do not have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy … which would drive up prices at the pump for Americans,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said at a White House news conference.

The US government has warned it could block Russian oil if Moscow steps up its aggression against Ukraine. “It’s certainly on the table, but we need to weigh up what the impacts will be,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told MSNBC on Wednesday.

Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, Bharat Ramamurti, told MSNBC that the White House does not yet want to take action.

“Attacking Russian oil and gas at this time would have an effect on American consumers and could actually be counterproductive in terms of 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 see that now.”

The Biden administration has struggled to say it has not yet targeted Russian oil sales as part of the sweeping economic sanctions it has imposed on Moscow since last week.

Still, traders and banks avoided Russian oil shipments via pipelines and tankers, lest they be seen as funding the invasion, disrupting energy markets.
Some US lawmakers have pushed for legislation that analysts say could drive up gasoline prices.

The top Democrat and a Republican member of the Senate Energy Committee introduced a bill that would ban the import of Russian oil, liquid fuels and liquefied natural gas. The United States on average imported more than 20.4 million barrels of crude and refined products a month from Russia in 2021, about 8% of net U.S. fuel imports, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski are working to gain support for their bill, a spokesperson for Manchin said.

And the United States has imposed sanctions on Russia’s oil refineries, banning the export of specific technologies, a move that could hamper Russia’s modernization of these plants.

Nearly a week after Moscow invaded Ukraine, U.S. CLc1 crude ended Wednesday at $110.60 a barrel, its highest close since May 2011, while global benchmark Brent LCOc1 hit its highest level since June. 2014, at US$ 112.93.

Meanwhile, OPEC+ oil producers meeting Wednesday agreed to maintain their modest production increases, offering little relief to the market or consumers.

On Tuesday, the United States and its allies agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil reserves to help offset supply disruptions.

“We want to minimize the impact on the global market… and the impact of energy prices on the American population,” said Psaki. “We are not trying to harm ourselves, we are trying to harm President Putin and the Russian economy.”