Texans call on US to ban Russian oil imports and increase domestic production

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WASHINGTON — U.S. leaders moved closer Monday to banning Russian oil from the U.S. economy, building on support from Republicans and Democrats from Texas to Washington.

“Symbolically, the idea that we fund [Russian president Vladamir] Putin’s war machine and, quite frankly, the genocide we see on television, this has to stop,” Republican U.S. Representative Michael McCaul said on CNN, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February.

But there was less agreement domestically on how the US should proceed to replace Russian import, which accounts for about 7% of all US oil imports. Texas Republicans spent much of Monday demanding nearly unfettered drilling and use of pipelines across North America, policies that Biden officials have refused to endorse.

Calls for increased US oil production have received support from at least one Texas Democrat, US Representative Filemon Vela of Brownsville.

“Save Ukraine! Free America’s Oil and Gas! he said on Twitter, avoiding the national party’s reluctance to increase drilling out of concern for environmental impact. Vela could not immediately be reached for comment.

But not all Texans were on board.

“We should have long since weaned off fossil fuels (especially foreign oil) and invested in solar and wind power, but there has always been strong Republican opposition to investing in renewable energy that would have allowed us to have that energy independence,” U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from El Paso, told the Texas Tribune.

“We must stop buying oil from Russia and accelerate our investments in renewable energy,” she added.

The deal to ban Russian energy imports would be the latest step in a global effort to punish Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, a senior Democratic official involved in drafting the bill, said the bill could go to a vote as early as Tuesday.

Such dramatic action will almost certainly impact the Texas oil and gas industry, with companies likely to reap short-term profits as they attempt to ramp up production to meet global energy needs. But if a large amount of Russian oil and gas were no longer on the world market, Texas alone could not make up the difference.

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent oil prices skyrocketing after an appearance on CNN in which he said the United States “is now talking to our European partners and allies to look in a coordinated way at the prospect of ban the import of Russian oil”. , while ensuring that there is always an adequate supply of oil in world markets.

McCaul, a Republican from Austin and the top House Republican on foreign policy, met with Blinken over the weekend in Poland and said he encouraged Blinken to pursue a halt to Russian energy imports. , adding that energy is “a cornerstone for Putin”. And I believe he is using this money to shed blood in Ukraine.

A US ban would likely have little impact on the Russian economy. The most consequential – and diplomatically difficult – decision would be for Ukrainian allies in Europe to join the US ban.

Western Europe is much more dependent on Russian energy, a sticking point between US Senator Ted Cruz and the Biden administration in the run-up to the Russian invasion. Throughout 2021, Cruz has blocked President Joe Biden’s nominees for the US State Department in response to Biden’s decision to lift sanctions on a company that ships Russian gas to Germany through a pipeline known as the name of Nord Stream 2.

Eventually, the Biden administration reinstated the sanctions, and Germany abandoned the pipeline altogether. Even so, Germany has expressed reluctance to pursue Russian oil bans.

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said on Monday he expects “difficult times” ahead as the threat to cut all sources of supply impacts the global market.

“People everywhere are worried about energy availability and affordability,” Woods said Monday at the opening of CERAWeek, an annual global energy conference in Houston.

Rising oil prices will impact nearly every consumer in Texas, including inflated gasoline prices, but will also create opportunities in the oil and gas sector.

In 2020, Russia was the world’s third-largest oil producer and second-largest natural gas producer, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

In response to potential energy supply cuts, Texas Republicans flooded social media Monday morning demanding an expansion in domestic production.

The president “needs to open the Keystone Pipeline, restart drilling on federal lands, and unleash American energy independence,” said U.S. Representative Beth Van Duyne, a Republican from Irving. wrote on Twitter.

“Today the United States is producing oil at an all-time high and it’s still not enough for them,” Escobar replied. “Republicans can’t keep talking out of all sides of their mouths.”

“They can’t call out our dependence on foreign oil, complain about rising gas prices AND stand in the way of a clean energy future,” she added. “We need to stop buying oil from Russia and accelerate our investments in renewable energy.”

The White House showed little appetite for reinstating Keystone Pipeline permits and increasing drilling on federal lands when asked Monday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested that oil companies take advantage of existing drilling permits on private lands and turn to renewable energy.

“If we look to the future and what…we can do to prevent this from being a challenge in future crises, the best thing we can do is reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil,” he said. she declared.

But permits allowing companies to drill do not mean they will automatically produce oil and gas. Permits simply mean that they are authorized to search for commercially feasible oil and gas.

The Keystone XL Pipeline is a decades-long project, launched in the mid-2000s, that transports underground oil from Canada to Nebraska and then elsewhere in the United States. A portion of the pipeline network has already been built through East Texas delivering crude oil to Port Arthur. refineries. Environmental and Native American groups oppose it on environmental grounds. On his first day in office, Biden canceled pipeline permits for future construction of the project.

Congress is also expected to allocate billions more in aid to Ukraine this week. U.S. Representative Chip Roy, a Republican from Austin, called any funding unrelated to completing the construction of U.S. pipeline systems, allowing oil drilling on federal lands and offshore “a FAILURE.”

U.S. Representative Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, D-Houston, announced a legislative proposal late last week that would allocate funds to help European countries develop, produce or acquire equipment and resources that will reduce the region’s reliance to Russian natural gas, oil and nuclear power. . The sophomore MP is also expected to soon introduce legislation that would speed up exports of liquefied natural gas to NATO countries.

Republicans hammered Biden after reports surfaced Sunday that administration officials had traveled to Venezuela, a Kremlin ally, to discuss lifting sanctions there.

US Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, said, “Why the hell would we trade one oil-rich dictator for another?

A Monday report from Axios said Biden officials were planning a separate trip to Saudi Arabia in a bid to boost their oil production and exports. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is scheduled to speak at the Houston conference on Wednesday and is expected to meet her counterparts from Saudi Arabia and other countries.

“You know your brain is broken when you think foreign oil is better for the environment than American oil,” wrote U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Houston.

An outside group aligned with former Vice President Mike Pence announced early Monday that he would spend $10 million on a television ad campaign targeting 16 Democrats ahead of the midterm elections in November, including four Texans: U.S. Representatives Colin Allred of Dallas, Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Fletcher and Vicente Gonzalez by McAllen.

“Joe Biden gave in to radical environmentalists and shut down the U.S. Keystone Pipeline and dramatically increased Americans’ dependence on Russian oil, endangering America’s security and helping Russia fund their invasion,” the ad reads, according to Axios.

Almost immediately after the ad campaign was announced, Allred indicated impatience with Pence’s hawkish political case. Calling the ad campaign “abhorrent,” Allred said “Pence and the GOP [are using] the war in Ukraine to score cheap political points.

“Ukrainians are fleeing their homes and losing family members to a senseless invasion by a murderous dictator,” he added.

Allred then pointed to a 2019 call between then-President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which the US President threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine unless Zelenskyy launched a political lawsuit against Biden’s son.

“This is the same vice president who stood by Trump as he closed in on Putin and did nothing while he blackmailed the Ukrainians and withheld the guns they needed to defend,” Allred added.

Disclosure: Exxon Mobil Corporation financially supported The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the journalism of the Tribune. Find a full list here.