White House says looking for ways to cut use of Russian oil

The White House is looking for ways to reduce US consumption of Russian oil while protecting American families from price hikes, an administration spokeswoman said Friday.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent oil prices soaring to their highest levels since 2014.

While Western allies’ severe financial sanctions on Moscow have so far exempted oil transactions, pressure has been building for new sanctions targeting Russia’s main source of cash -- oil exports.

“We are looking at ways to reduce the import of Russian oil while also making sure that we are maintaining the global supply needs out there,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

“We are very focused on minimizing the impact to families,” she said.

Amid reports buyers are already shunning oil from Russia, futures prices on Friday were above $115 a barrel.

The US Commerce Department on Friday announced additional restrictions on Russian industry, including barring exports of key refining equipment to “limit Russia’s ability to raise revenue from the sale of its refined products, including gasoline, that it can use to support its military efforts.”

White House chief economic adviser Brian Deese told financial channel CNBC on Friday that the administration is keeping close tabs on the global oil market.

“We’re tracking the energy market on an hour by hour basis in terms of overall supply chain fluidity,” he said.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the United States would release 30 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserves to help stabilize the market. 

But prices continued to rise.

“It’s an incredibly fluid and fast moving situation,” Deese said.

Jim Krane at the Baker Institute, a Rice University think tank in Houston, said he sees momentum in Congress for a US ban on Russian oil imports but said it would be a largely symbolic move since the quantity purchased by American clients is relatively small.

“There would be a small short-term impact and potentially a longer-term impact on the Russian economy,” Krane told AFP.

Deese said the administration is continuing its focus on ensuring smooth functioning of the supply chain, including finding enough workers and drivers to allow goods to “flow from ports to trucks to warehouses” and on to consumers, he said.