"The announcement will complete a shift for the White House which just days ago expressed fear that an import ban would send gas prices skyrocketing. Officials were hopeful to enact a ban in lockstep with European allies. But they are adjusting to what has become an overwhelming bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill, and within corners of the administration, in ridding U.S. markets of Russian oil as Vladimir Putin continues his assault on Ukraine."
According to a new Quinnipiac poll:
... Americans say 71 - 22 percent that they would support a ban on Russian oil even if it meant higher gasoline prices in the United States.... Democrats (82 - 12 percent), independents (70 - 22 percent), and Republicans (66 - 30 percent) all support banning Russian oil.
MEANWHILE: "Moscow has stoked fears of an energy war by threatening to close a major gas pipeline to Germany after the US pushed its European allies to consider banning Russian oil imports over its invasion of Ukraine" (The Guardian).
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65 comments:
Oil is fungible. If Tanzania buys oil from Russia instead of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. buys oil from Saudi Arabia instead of Russia, it's a wash. Everyone must be assuming that there are not enough purchasers outside the U.S. and Europe to counteract the cut-off in demand from those places. (And of course there will be delays and increased transport costs as oil goes to new places.)
Symbolic acts are always amusing.
"The American Empire Self-Destructs...."
Democrats banned Keystone and approved Nordstream II. Never forget!
There is no such thing as Russian oil, just like there's no such thing as Russian gold.
I definitely place myself in the minority of those opposing such sanctions, largely because such actions have unforeseen reactions and will end up not doing much of what they intended in the first place. Don't believe me? Wait a while.
I support a ban on Russian oil, but I have more support on lifting the ban on US oil in federal lands. Lifting the US ban is more ethical and creates less carbon/GHG than transporting oil from Russia, which also uses dirtier means of production than US companies.
How can one person have the authority to ban imports like this? That's insane. And how can Politico publish over one thousand words on the subject without any discussion of where the President derives authority (if any) to do this?
an import ban would send gas prices skyrocketing
it's not a flaw, it's a feature
They WANT unaffordable gas
We could re-open all domestic energy supplies.
But that would thwart the left's Solyndra x1000000 fake green energy grift.
Why is this hard? Especially in a two-party system. I support the party (partIES) that will ban Russian (Iraqi, Syrian...) oil. AND I support the party (partIES) that will increase the supply of "ethical oil" either produced domestically or from friendly allied nations like Canada or (to a lesser extent) Mexico.
Isn't this a bi-partisan issue and solution and don't polls show the voting public demands bi-partisan action on issues of national importance?
It will not affect anything. Russia sells into the oil market and that's that. If it doesn't come here it goes somewhere else.
Nearly all Republicans agree on a ban, too. But they have also used the topic to criticize Biden for limiting domestic oil and gas production that they argue can fill the gap created by a Russian import ban. - Politico
So no support for American production in the form of assurances that the oil companies making the investments in increased production won't be bankrupted in six months by another batshit crazy change in policy. Despite this emergency, this is a signal that the climate hawks are still in charge, and it's no secret that they see these high prices as a net plus, and they have useful idiots like Howard to push the idea that Putin and evil American oil producers are the cause of the high prices. The hardest part of forcing the prices higher was deflecting the blame, and they think they have their opportunity now, which is what Psaki's talking points are about.
The cinch is that they can blame Russia for everything the Democrats have done to the working class...
And here comes Hillary, fast on the outside!
I guess our hope is that OPEC+1 (The +1 is Russia) will sell out Russia in this crisis, or that we can free up supply by giving Iran the bomb. Anything but using US or Canadian oil!
It happened very slowly. Then, seemingly overnight.
The Great Reset-Build Back Better.
Next up- Another round of huge government spending/programs to help "average Americans" deal with a crushed economy.
Note: Since 1970, every time oil rose by 50% recession followed.
The Embargo Act was passed to sanction Japan for occupying Indochina. All oil exports to Japan were banned.
August 4, 1941.
It's been a long journey, but I agree with almost every line of that article in Counterpunch that Cookie linked to.
"C'mon, man, just buy a Tesla."
- Biden, probably, and Buttigieg, definitely.
Cook's linked article includes the leftist myth that the Iraq war was to "grab mideastern oil." The Iraq war was a mistake but it was not to "grab" the oil.
American's are fucking idiots. I DO NOT support any oil ban, and I'm angry that my high Gas prices are going to go higher. Oh course, Mittens, Pelosi, Chicom Mitch, Lindsey Graham, etc. all support this. It won't affect them, and their Ukrainian Donors, Big Oil Donors, Globalists millionaire donors will be happy.
Higher gas prices affect everything that moves by truck. So this will cause higher food prices too. All this over who controls Eastern Ukraine. Moronic!
Yes, I support the ban on Russian Oil. I cant' find the crimea on a map, or know who the President of the Ukraine is, or how the ban on accomplish anything except give USA higher Gas Prices, but I support the ban.
Because someone on TV said it was a good thing.
So China gets a discount on their oil and Americans pay more.
This is after the regime drives the Russian people onto the Chinese financial services Union chain.
Joe Biden is doing exactly what I would expect a Chinese Agent to do.
They've been telling you for many years, most loudly during the Obama regime, what they wanted to do. Now that they're actually doing it, people are shocked, puzzled, dismayed, or think this will get fixed.
1 year of Biden. 3 to go.
Russia offered the following terms to Ukraine:
They want Ukraine to:
-- change its constitution to enshrine neutrality between Russia and the West into law
-- acknowledge Crimea as belonging to Russia
-- recognize the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.
This war ends when Joe Biden wants it to end.
Joe Biden does not want it to end.
I yearn for the days when we were energy independent. Then, covid hit, mail in cheating hit, and the delusional one was installed to stop all the progress (yes, progress) America was making in the world, and started destroying us from within. We are so close to becoming a Banana Republic, it is pathetic.
Oil is fungible so in the long run the ban won’t matter. In the short run what matters is the transportation disruption.
Russian oil going to the US is shipped on water so it can easily be re-routed elsewhere. A lot of Russian oil going to Europe goes via pipeline and if the pipelines are shut down that is a disruption that will take a while to mitigate. So Russia gets hurt in the short run as it shifts from pipelines to tankers.
Might be a good time to invest in tankers.
This is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into, Joe Biden and the Green Fanatics who are running the Democrat Party.
Joe doesn’t have a clue as to what he should do. The Greenes (socialists) are running the show and allowing Russia to roll over Ukraine and turn our economy on its head. The Russians can drill and produce oil, natural gas and make billions to support their war. Germany was short sighted to agree to rely on Russia for energy. And dumbass Biden pushed for that to happen. Everyone can drill and produce but not the United States. We have to go out and buy electric cars and find places to charge them, according to another dope, Pete Buttigieg. What kind of leadership do we have in D.C.? They seem like the Keystone Cops. Our economy will crater if we don’t start producing our own energy and stop depending on our enemies. Biden is groveling to Maduro in Venezuela for oil…a country we don’t even have ties with. This is inanity and could have been avoided. Except, Joe is being run by the Sanders, AOC, et al idiots in his party. So, now we all suffer in this country because the Greenies have an idealized vision of how the world should be. These are stupid, and immature people who should not be anywhere near our government.
China is the winner in all this.
Leading from behind... even as the lemmings ahead disappear from view.
So he's demonizing domestic oil producers and using the crisis to push his green new deal and electric vehicles, the production of which requires the kinds of metals that the Twin Metals mine, which he just killed, not to mention Russian and ChiCom metals are required to replace the output of that mine.
War rhetoric up to 11. Biden had nothing to do with creating this crisis, according to him.
The poll done in Harvard yard? Or City Colleges of Chicago?
The only answer to this is to open our own oil production back up. It would render a US embargo of Russian oil moot, and it would lower worldwide oil prices. And it is the one thing not one the table.
Why?
Those who speculate on what the motives behind the insane ideology of the people running Biden could possibly be should read that article linked by Cook. Those are the people who want to destroy the country we live in so they can build a leftist Utopia on the ruins of our civilization. They are people who, for example, believe that electricity comes out of the wall. They have no concept of how an economy works or how to build anything.
Never figured Putin would be the poster boy for the Green New Deal.
And yet, he still won't commit to getting more oil from the US and Canada, or opening up the Keystone pipeline.
You can thank Joe and the democrats when your gas is $7/gallon, and you can't afford to heat your home next winter.
But remember...it's all by design, and you lefty morons voted for it.
This is what happens when you do business with the Devil. Ultimately, you will always pay the price. Nex, China.
"Higher gas prices affect everything that moves by truck. So this will cause higher food prices too. All this over who controls Eastern Ukraine."
And it affects the price of petroleum products all over the world. So that the countries that can least afford the increase are hurt the most. It is in reality all over the Biden administrations energy policies. Buying or not buying Russian oil doesn't mean crap. It's overall oil production and we're out of the market.
You know you're dealing with dismally stupid people when all they had to do was not f*ck up.
Obama, Biden, Clinton, McCain, Biden's Slavic Spring in the Spring series, and American... global collateral damage.
Sanctions on China etc, next, never. #HateLovesAbortion
And if you don't like paying for $8/gallon gas, just buy a Tesla like Mr. $75M-net-worth Colbert tells us, or Pete Boot-Edge-Edge.
In other words, eat fucking cake.
"The American Empire Self-Destructs...."
This isn't happenstance, it is by design.
Joe just does what he's told in exchange for pudding.
The best part of all this is the government bureaucrats and rich people demanding we buy electric cars. You know, the ones that most people cannot afford and would completely collapse the electrical grid if they could.
These are genuinely terrible people. It feels like our country is being run by cartoon supervillains.
Glad to see that "Leading from Behind" is still a Democrat party principle.
rcocean said...
apparently, about 70% of americans agree with you, for EXACTLY that reason
The idea there's no such thing as "Russian Oil" is ludricrous.
Rosneft is a massive russia state owned oil company. Purchases of their oil directly fund the Russian state.
We imported 209k barrels of russian oil per day in 2021. Do the math to calculate how much revenue we were giving the Russian government each year.
Yes, Oil is fungible and it'll likely be supplied elsewhere. That's ok. This is not about a long-term strategy, but about short term pain.
I agree with others that Biden doesn't have this authority in this way, but this is one of those rare instances where the public wants something, congress would likely do it anyway (albeit slowly), and the executive acts with swiftness in the face of a war-like matter.
This is one of the few times the U.S. is wielding openly hard economic power to slow/stop war progression in Europe. I'm not sure how much impact this move will have, but I support the broader move to cripple Russia's government economically before it moves to escalate it's military operations.
Read a comment on the WSJ today, where the commenter said:
"Oh COURSE i'm in favor of a ban!"
Then people asked him about higher gas prices and he said "i drive a Tesla i don't give a damn!"
THEN people asked him about high food (and everything) prices? And he said;
" I TOLD you, i can afford to drive a Tesla, i don't give a damn!"
A discussion of American lies, ignorance and moral idiocy.
or that we can free up supply by giving Iran the bomb. Anything but using US or Canadian oil!
If Only we could convince the world's largest producer of petroleum to start producing again!
Remember a couple of years ago? Back before they started their embargo? Gas was cheep then!
Of course, their leader made all those mean tweets...
Yeah. We can take our oil buying business to Venezuela. That'll show those Ruskies! We can trick the Venezuelans by simply devaluing our currency. That way it won't cost us any extra. Heck. The Feds can make us go cashless, and we won't even have to buy paper to print the money on. Just a few key strokes and every resident - real or imagined - gets $1400.00 deposited in their bank account. Next year it can be $140,000 to compensate for the devaluation.
We just have to stay ahead of the Venezuelan devaluations.
While switching channels, I happened to catch him saying we need to become energy independent.
I nearly broke my screen.
"We WERE energy independent, you asshole."
I happened to catch him saying we need to become energy independent.
I nearly broke my screen.
"We WERE energy independent, you asshole."
Biden doesn't mean we need to be more oil energy independent, he means "buy more solar panels and wind turbines from China" energy independent.
Yeah, we should open our own production up, and how long will that take? And as someone said, oil prices are set internationally and Russia is the 3rd largest exported. Ban them, and you'd better have someone just as big to replace it.
Oil is fungible so in the long run the ban won’t matter.
Yes it does matter "In the long run". less oil, higher price. Econ 101.
From Cook's link above"
The U.S. has long ago achieved a herd mentality. Skepticism and applying elementary, common logic has become nothing but faded memory and legend. Commercial advertising, TV, and the dumbing down of education have done its work. Public discussion on matters of public interest is shallow and is dropping steadily year by year. Our leaders are at once an effect and a reinforcing cause of this phenomenon.
I would say this applies quite well to Biden voters. At least the live ones.
Interesting article in CNN Business. Reduced US oil production caused less by government policy changes than by financial disasters from overproduction in 2010s. Even with increased prices, firms reluctant to expand investment because shareholders have punished them and expect them to put profits over expansion.
Robert Cook said...
"The American Empire Self-Destructs...."
3/8/22, 8:54 AM
Your wettest dream evah… amirite, comrade?
‘ Reduced US oil production caused less by government policy changes than by financial disasters from overproduction in 2010s.’
Interesting how that wasn’t true as recently as fifteen moths ago…
"I would say this applies quite well to Biden voters. At least the live ones."
It's not limited to them.
Covid, which killed worldwide demand, caused the immediate drop in production in early 2020. Production has been going up since.
Readering said...
Interesting article in CNN Business. Reduced US oil production caused less by government policy changes than by financial disasters from overproduction in 2010s. Even with increased prices, firms reluctant to expand investment because shareholders have punished them and expect them to put profits over expansion.
You can keep lying to yourself if you want.
You aren't that stupid.
Well maybe you are.
Always a good day that ends with an incoherent rant from one my closest followers.
“Yes it does matter "In the long run". less oil, higher price. Econ 101.”
But from the world standpoint there isn’t any less oil, merely a redistribution of where it is sent. Short term pain, long term no effect.
For an example of shipment disruptions: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Kazakhstan-Braces-For-Economic-Fallout-From-War-In-Ukraine.html
Herr Readering
Characteristic Average crude oil price in U.S. dollars per barrel
2021 70.68
2020 41.96
2019 64.3
2018 71.34
Markets matter. Now who decided on day one of their administration to f*ck with the oil markets?
Roger Sweeney hit it on the first post. We as a country, and especially politicians, have once again proven a complete lack of understanding of economics. As I have repeated often. Politicians try to legislate away the laws of economics (minimum wage, price controls).
If we don't purchase from Russia, we either forego oil or buy it from someone else. If we forego, there will not only be higher prices, but shortages. The people in the poll likely wouldn't like shortages. If we buy it from somewhere else, the new source doesn't have it sitting on a shelf. All oil is sold to someone, ergo what we buy from someone else will cause another customer to go without, until the market forces them to buy the Russian oil.
The result is everyone gets all the oil produced, but now the allocation of supply changes to something less efficient, which in turn causes a slight increase in cost.
This move is political theater, or at best something done on principle. It will barely nudge the price, nor will it hurt Russia. The price increase we are seeing is due to uncertainty in the market place and will continue to move depending on the actual war.
lvg - well said.
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