2.23.22
President Joe Biden has few options for keeping Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from inflicting pain for Americans at the pump. The actions he has taken so far, such as releasing tens of millions of barrels of oil from federal emergency reserves, have done little to bring down prices. And other options available to him, including suspending the federal gasoline tax, face major hurdles in Congress. “The Biden administration has learned by now after this winter crash course in how oil and gas markets work that there are no easy short-term solutions to rising gasoline prices,” said Bob McNally, president of research firm Rapidan Energy and a former National Security Council energy adviser during the George W. Bush administration. Biden announced a “first tranche” of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, while pledging to stabilize global energy prices. But a shooting war between Russia, one of Europe’s top energy suppliers, and Ukraine, a major transit route for oil and gas, could send energy costs higher at a time when high gasoline prices have already become a political liability for Biden and Congressional Democrats in the run-up to the midterm elections.
Market analysts said it remained to be seen whether the worst-case scenario — Russia cutting off flows of crude oil or natural gas — would come to pass, or whether new developments in Iran could restart the flow of crude there. Putin sought to assure European energy markets early on Tuesday, telling an audience in Doha, Qatar, that Moscow had no intention of halting its gas shipments. The sanctions announced by Biden on Tuesday target Russian government officials and its sovereign debt. More sanctions would follow if Moscow expands its invasion, expert said. But sanctioning Russia’s oil exports — one of the country’s main sources of revenue — is not an option on the list of targets, said one lobbyist working with Congress on the prospective punishments. "Sanctions on oil would be dead last with gasoline prices where they are going into the midterms,” the lobbyist said. On energy, the administration has few moves available to ease market anxieties, analysts said.
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