Senator commends Biden administration for banning Russian imports

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, commended the Biden administration on Tuesday for agreeing to ban the importation of Russian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal into the U.S.

The administration’s decision today comes after Portman and a bipartisan group of colleagues urged the administration to take this action and introduced the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act to make it happen.

In 2021, the United States imported from Russia an average of 670,000 barrels of oil and petroleum products per day. The U.S. has also imported Russian LNG and coal, despite having some of the largest reserves domestically. This import strategy puts American national security at risk and supports Vladimir Putin’s ability to stay in power.

“Last week I called on the Biden administration to immediately stop buying Russian oil and increase domestic energy production,” Sen. Portman said. “I’m pleased the administration made this decision today because it is yet another tool we can use to bankrupt President Putin’s economy and his war machine. Now we must do more here at home to put in place an all-of-the-above energy strategy and expand domestic energy production to help families impacted by higher energy costs and increase our energy security, both now and in the future.”