By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com -- The United States will ban imports of oil and other energy products from Russia, President Joe Biden said Tuesday, adding the unilateral move to a raft of global sanctions already imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
“I'm announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia's economy,” Biden said, announcing the U.S. decision to go alone on the ban as it became apparent that its European allies were too dependent for now on Russia, particularly for its natural gas, to institute similar action. Biden acknowledged that European allies might not yet be in a position to join the U.S. in this extra step to exert pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We're banning all imports of Russian oil, and gas and energy. That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports. And the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin,” Biden said in the announcement from the White House. He added that it was supported by both the Democratic leadership and Republican lawmakers in Congress.
Oil prices remained up between 4% and 8% after Biden had spoken.
Brent, the global benchmark for oil, was up by $9.45, or 7.7%, at $132.66 a barrel by 11:46 AM ET (16:46 GMT).
U.S. crude’s West Texas Intermediate, or WTI , benchmark was up $9.08, or 7.6%, at $128.48.
Both Brent and WTI have gained 70%, with half of that coming within just two weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24.
U.S. natural gas futures remained down after the announcement of the U.S. ban on Russian. The front-month gas contract on New York’s Henry Hub traded down 19.7 cents, or 4.1%, at $4.636 per thermal unit, although for the year, it was up 24%.