US bans Russian oil imports, UK to 'phase out' imports by end of year

Announcing the embargo, President Biden said the US will ban imports of Russian oil, gas and energy.

"That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at US ports and the American people will deal another blow to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war machine," President Biden said.

President Biden said the embargo followed "close consultation with our allies, especially in Europe," noting that the US’ position as a "net oil exporter" allows the country to make the move when others are unable to do so.

“We can take this step when others cannot, but we are working closely with Europe and our partners to develop a long-term strategy to reduce their dependency on Russian energy as well,” he said.

US Energy Information Administration figures show Russian crude oil made up about 3% of all crude shipments coming in to the US in 2021 and that total Russian petroleum product imports made up about 8% of US oil imports.

Following an address via video feed to the UK Parliament by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a phased approach to eliminating imports of Russian energy that will see a complete embargo by the end of 2022. The UK Prime Minister said the country would "press on with tightening the economic vice around Vladimir Putin, and we will stop importing Russian oil".

Details, although sparse, were announced by UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.

"The UK will phase out imports of Russian oil in response to Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine by the end of the year," a statement from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said.

Russian imports account for 8% of the UK’s total oil demand. The BEIS statement said the UK is "a significant producer of both crude oil and petroleum products, in addition to imports from a diverse range of reliable suppliers beyond Russia".

"The government will work with companies through a new Taskforce on Oil to support them to make use of this period in finding alternative supplies," the statement said.

Europe has released a draft plan to reduce it’s reliance on Russian energy. The EU is more exposed to Russian energy flows, with heavy reliance on both oil and gas imports from Russia. Russian natural gas flows make up less than 4% of UK supply.

An International Energy Agency plan released in early March, outlining measures for the EU to reduce its reliance on Russian energy supplies said that in 2021, the European Union imported 155 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia, accounting for around 45% of EU gas imports and close to 40% of its total gas consumption. Similarly, nearly a third of European oil and half of the continent’s coal supplies come from Russia.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “We must become independent from Russian oil, coal and gas. We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us. We need to act now to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices, diversify our gas supply for next winter and accelerate the clean energy transition. The quicker we switch to renewables and hydrogen, combined with more energy efficiency, the quicker we will be truly independent and master our energy system. I will be discussing the Commission’s ideas with European leaders at Versailles later this week, and then working to swiftly implement them with my team.”