Nancy Pelosi supports bipartisan call for Russian oil ban amid White House resistance

• Calls for a ban on Russian oil imports have spread among lawmakers across party lines, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
• The Biden administration has so far avoided such a complete ban, explaining that it could lead to sky-high gas prices.
• President Biden has only said that it remains under consideration.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has joined the bipartisan call for a ban on Russian oil imports, despite it likely leading to even higher gas prices.

Pelosi said during her weekly conference, “I’m all for that. Ban it.”

President Joe Biden has previously said that it is under consideration, but White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated its impact on gas prices.

Psaki explained, “We don’t have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy, and that would raise prices at the gas pump for the American people.”

Such repercussions did not deter several lawmakers, however.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have already proposed legislation to put such a ban into law.

According to a Politico report, Murkowski considers the impact worth it.

Murkowski acknowledged that the price increases will hurt, and that no one wants that. “But we all need to recognize Europe is in the midst of a war with Russia now,” she explained. “Innocent people are dying, children are dying.”

Countries all over the world, including the US, have already pledged to tap into their emergency reserves.

International benchmark Brent Crude closed at $110 a barrel in recent days.

Majority of America’s imports of crude oil and petroleum products come from Canada, but Russian oil and refined product imports still account for roughly 8% of US imports. That’s approximately 672,000 barrels a day.

Senior oil market analyst Louise Dickson of Rystad Energy observed “market panic” as the price increases are predicted to keep “intensifying.”

Dickson surmised that Biden wanted to avoid further chaos in the global oil market, which would “impact the American people more with higher energy and gas prices.”

However, Pelosi joining the call for a complete ban has added pressure on the White House.

Oil products are among the only parts of the Russian economy that have managed to evade crippling sanctions from the West.

Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer, with about 1/5th of its gross domestic product depending on oil and gas revenues. It still depends on the energy market, so a ban would have a debilitating effect on its economy.

Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, has publicly denounced the war in Ukraine after facing calls of a boycott of its American-owned gas stations.

Lukoil has 230 individually-owned stations in America. Some cities, such as Newark, New Jersey, have already revoked its license.

Source: Insider