NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— President Joe Biden announced today a ban on imports of Russian oil because of Russia’s war on Ukraine. How will this have an effect locally on drivers at the pump?
President Biden says by doing this will cause an economic blow to Russia.
Locally —Pierre Conner with Tulane’s Energy Institute at the A.B. Freeman School of Business says this is being done to send a message to Russia, but logistically there is a lot to work through.
“Oil is a worldwide market and it is going to find other places. I think everyone needs to know about crude oil, not every crude oil is the same, there’s literally hundreds of different types of crude oil,” he said.
He says the ban will primarily cause disruption and dislocation to the supply chain.
“They are monitoring this, they are working on this, but it isn’t a quick fix,” Conner said.
He says there will most likely be increases at the pumps and that is not something that drivers like Carolyn Caples want to hear.
“It just affects you and your everyday life and if you have to move around and do your thing. It is just hard on a lot of people because we’re still trying to recover from Hurricane Ida,” she said.
In a statement from the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, they said:
“Today’s ban on Russian energy imports is an important step in applying pressure on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Fighting against Russian aggression shouldn’t be a partisan issue. This is something that we can all come together on.”
To help with all of this experts say that U.S. officials traveled to Venezuela over the weekend to discuss the chance of easing oil sanctions on exporting from Venezuela.
