U.S. President Biden Announces Ban on Energy Imports From Russia

U.S. President Joe Biden announced on March 8 that the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil and gas and energy, “targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy.” This is latest action taken by the Biden administration in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began nearly two weeks ago. Biden noted that the effort could increase costs in the U.S. and that his administration would take steps to minimize the impact.

The move comes amid growing calls from lawmakers to prohibit imports of Russian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal. A coalition of bipartisan lawmakers recently proposed legislation to this end noting that the U.S. has imported Russian LNG and coal despite having some of the largest reserves domestically, a strategy puts U.S. national security at risk. In 2021, the U.S. imported an average of 670,000 barrels of oil and petroleum products, with imports up 24 percent in 2021 compared to 2020.

The export ban is expected to deal a devastating blow to the Russian economy, which relies on oil and gas for a large portion of its revenue. Sanctions imposed over the last two weeks avoided directly targeting Russia’s oil and gas exports, given the outsized role of Russia in the global energy market. Russia ranks third in global oil production and is the largest exporter, with its crude exports accounting for roughly 12 percent of global trade and petroleum products representing around 15 percent.

Companies across the oil and gas value chain have also announced plans to abandon investments in Russia. In the west, BP, ExxonMobil, and Shell have announced plans to withdraw from oil and gas investments in Russia.

For more information on actions in retaliation of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, read our Visual Primer.