A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a bill on Thursday to ban U.S. imports of Russian oil, saying the shipments could be replaced by boosting output in North America and other places.
The bill would have to pass the Senate and House and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law, but the White House has indicated reluctance to support moves that could increase the price of gasoline at a time when inflation is already high.
The bill, Banning Russian Energy Imports Act, is intended to punish President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine and is sponsored by 18 senators in the 100-member chamber, including Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat, and Lisa Murkowski, a Republican. Similar legislation has been offered by Senator Ed Markey, a liberal Democrat.
“I don’t believe this country should be importing anything from Russia,” Jon Tester, a Democrat from oil-producing Montana who supports the Manchin-Murkowski bill, told reporters. “It will send even a bigger message that the United States is in this with Ukrainians for the long haul.”
The United States imported more than 20.4 million barrels of crude and refined products a month on average in 2021 from Russia, about 8% of U.S. liquid fuel imports, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
On Thursday, Par Pacific Holdings became the first U.S. refiner to suspend purchases of Russian oil for its Hawaii-based refinery. Russia accounted for nearly 28% of Hawaii’s crude imports last year, according to the EIA.
Russia is the second-largest exporter of crude oil, shipping out 4 to 5 million barrels of crude every day, trailing only Saudi Arabia. A series of sanctions imposed by the West, while exempting Russian oil and gas, have nonetheless disrupted global oil trade, as buyers shun Russian barrels and search for supply elsewhere.
Source: Reuters
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