A ban on Russia oil and what does that mean

Oil prices spiked to their highest levels since 2008 on Monday after Secretary of State Andrew Blinken said the U.S. and its European allies were considering banning imports of Russian oil. The Biden administration has been facing pressure from Congress to impose energy sanctions on Russia, a move that the White House has resisted, citing concerns over their impacts on oil prices.

That seemed to change over the weekend, when Blinken said on CNN that the U.S. and allies were looking “at the prospect of banning the import of Russian oil, while making sure that there is a still an appropriate supply of oil on world markets.”Oil prices have climbed more than 25% over the last five sessions alone, the fastest price increase in a decade. Oil Takes Off With Ban on Russian Supplies on the Table

Markets would most likely respond to the sanctions in real time. Since Blinken’s Sunday night announcement, oil prices jumped 5% to 10%. A lot of that could be panic driven, as prices have calmed from Sunday night’s spike, but prices will remain high and volatile for a few months, Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a research note Monday. The Biden administration has approved the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and coordinated with other countries to release an additional 30 million. The move is designed to add supply of oil back into the marketplace to make up for constrained Russian supply.