The Biden administration announced major sanctions against the Russian energy sector on Friday, escalating tensions with Russia in its final days now that further energy inflation cannot hurt Democrats politically in the near-term.
The actions unveiled Friday are the “most significant” sanctions targeting the Russian energy sector from the Biden administration to date, and they target two of Russia’s four biggest oil producers, dozens of oilfield service companies, more than 150 vessels from Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers and more, according to the White House. The major lame duck move against Russia figures to inflame tensions between Moscow and the West ahead of the return of President-elect Donald Trump, who has been vocal about his desire to find a solution to the bloody Russia-Ukraine war.
“Some will ask why we waited for the end of the Administration to introduce sanctions on Russian oil. It’s a fair question. The answer is this: for sanctions to be successful, they must be sustainable. That doesn’t mean they should be costless – sanctions never are – but to succeed they must impact the target more than they damage the U.S. and global economy,” the White House said. “Until recently, we were constrained by tight supply in global energy markets, which meant that reducing Russia’s oil exports to the world would likely push up Putin’s export revenues while raising prices at the gas pump for families in the United States and across the world.”
Following the imposition of sanctions by the West in response to the February 2022 Ukraine invasion, the administration often did not match its rhetoric with vigorous sanctions enforcement and targeting the Russian oil sector. In the time since, numerous reports and analyses found that Russia was managing to avoid some sanctions and sell large, discounted volumes of oil to buyers like India and China.
Notably, the invasion occurred just nine months ahead of the crucial 2022 midterm elections in the U.S., and gas prices around the country spiked to their highest average on record that summer as Western sanctions shook up energy markets while the administration continued its regulatory assault against domestic energy production. The new restrictions, if left in place, could drive up prices in global energy markets and end up hitting American consumers with increased prices.
“We’re in no position to speak for the next team,” an unnamed administration White House official said of Friday’s actions. “It’s entirely up to them to determine whether, when and on what terms they might lift any sanctions we put in place.”
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