There’s growing, bipartisan support in congress for ending U.S. imports of Russian oil.
“The United States, plain and simple, should not be purchasing any oil from Russia while Putin’s actively — illegally — invading a sovereign nation and slaughtering innocent people,” Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, said this morning during a conference call with Iowa reporters.
According to the trade association for the U.S. petroleum industry, about 3% of U.S. crude oil imports came from Russia last year.
“Our current reliance on Russian oil will continue to drive up gas prices here at home,” Hinson said, adding it’s time to ramp up U.S. crude oil output.
Production levels were rolled back in the U.S. after demand dropped precipitously early in the pandemic and the price for a barrel of crude actually hit a negative number in 2020.
This week, Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate have expressed support for banning imports of Russian oil and gas and a large group of Senate Republicans held a news conference to call for energy-related sanctions against Russia.