The Biden administration is set to ban all US imports of oil, liquid natural gas (LNG) and coal as soon as today (Tuesday) without the participation of European allies, sources told Bloomberg. Analysts have pointed out that in 2021, the US was importing 700K barrels of crude oil per day from Russia. However, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, US buyers of crude oil have taken it upon themselves to stop buying Russian crude (in anticipation of such a ban). Analysts pointed out that, last week, the US did not import any Russian crude oil. So Monday's announcement is more a case of making a policy that US oil importers had already been following official.
Separately, US Senator Chris Coons recently said CNN that the White House is likely to ban oil imports from Russia and warned that gas prices are likely to increase in the US and globally.
Market Reaction
Though many had expected such an announcement would come soon, front-month WTI futures are nonetheless rallying. Perhaps traders weren't expecting the ban to be announced as soon as Tuesday. WTI has recently pushed to highs of the day in the $124.00s and will now be eyeing a retest of Monday's highs in the $127.50 area.
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