President Biden has taken such rare steps against Russia's energy sector, largely under bilateral pressure. Although sanctions have been imposed on Russia in various ways before, the West has never interfered in the sector. While the West has tried to isolate the Kremlin in response to the Ukraine invasion, it is true and it is almost impossible to avoid the fact that Europe is heavily dependent on Russian oil.
But sanctions will not work unless Russia's source of income is limited. President Biden agrees. That is why he has taken such a step despite his reluctance. And he acknowledged that this would mean that US drivers would have to spend more money on fuel. However, he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat Al-Qaeda. The United States has been importing Russian oil since before the latest embargo. Although their dependence is much less than in Europe.
The United States consumes much more fuel oil than domestic production. According to the Energy Information Agency, the United States imported about 672,000 barrels of crude oil and petroleum products per day from Russia in 2021. That's about 7 percent of total U.S. imports. Russia alone accounts for 3 percent of total US oil imports, about 200,000 barrels a day. The United States imports most of its oil and related products from Canada. Canada supplies more than 51 percent of its imports to neighboring countries. Mexico and Saudi Arabia are major suppliers to the United States. In fact, some small Latin American countries and West Africa supply much more oil to the United States than Russia.
The United States imported the most oil from Russia by mid-2021 in a decade. In recent years, this trade has seen a boom. However, Russia's share of total imports has always been and still is.
The United States exports millions of barrels of oil daily along the Gulf coast. Why does he still have to import oil from Russia? The answer to this question is straightforward. The Jones Act, passed a century ago, effectively restricted cargo shipping from U.S. ports to ports. As a result, the law has become a major obstacle for buyers on the west and east coasts to get oil supplies from the Gulf coast.
Last December, oil companies imported about 3 million barrels of oil a day from the Gulf coast. They are connected to the Permian Basin in West Texas, New Mexico, and Cushing in Oklahoma, mainly by pipeline. Cushing is the largest oil field in the United States.
With so little supply from the east and west coasts, do not pet the buyers. This is because the refineries do not have adequate pipeline connections from Permian and Cashing. They mainly depend on imports.
Another big reason is that US refineries require different types of crude oil. Different grades of high sulfur crude oil are required to reach the peak of production capacity. That's why the United States has to import oil from Russia. Refineries in the United States decades ago were designed for heavy-grade crude oil. They usually contain high levels of sulfur. The configuration is that these refineries were built when there was a shortage of internal supply.
In addition, Russia is filling the gaps created by sanctions against Iran and Venezuela in recent years. Biden is now trying to import oil from Iran and Venezuela by easing sanctions.
About half of the US oil imports from Russia go to the West Bank. Refineries there take crude oil from abroad because they are not connected to the pipeline with the Permian Basin, the largest oil field in the United States. Russia's oil goes to refineries on the west coast, coming from the country's eastern port of Domino in the Pacific Ocean.
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