USA: No decision on import ban for Russian oil

Created: 07/03/2022, 21:25

US President Joe Biden during a video conference with French President Macron, German Chancellor Scholz and British Prime Minister Johnson.

© Adam Schultz/The White House/AP/dpa

As the next step in the sanctions against Russia, an import ban on Russian oil is under discussion.

However, the interests in the USA and Europe are different.

According to the White House, US President Joe Biden has not yet decided on an import ban on oil from Russia in response to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

"These discussions are ongoing internally and also with our colleagues and partners in Europe and around the world," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at the White House on Monday.

Biden spoke to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his video call on Monday.

Psaki pointed out that European countries are much more dependent on Russian crude oil than the USA.

Last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), Russia was the third most important country for US imports of crude oil and petroleum products - behind Canada and Mexico.

Imports from Russia, at 672,000 barrels (159 liters each) per day, accounted for almost eight percent of all US imports in this category.

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Germany ranked 10th in mineral oil consumption in 2020 with 93.7 million tons, overall it was the sixth largest importer worldwide.

It is already known that in 2021 more than a third of German oil imports came from Russia.

In the previous year, Russia was the second largest oil exporter in the world: around 232 million tons corresponded to around two-thirds of the amount sold internationally by the world market leader Saudi Arabia.

The war in Ukraine had put pressure on the US government to add a ban on Russian oil to the existing sanctions.

However, the government is concerned about gasoline prices, which have been exacerbated by the war.

Last Sunday (March 6), the price of a gallon (almost 3.8 liters) of regular gasoline on the national average rose to more than four dollars (3.68 euros) for the first time since 2008.

Psaki stressed that Biden is doing everything in his power to reduce the impact on Americans.

dpa