U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration and its allies are discussing an embargo of Russian oil, a move that threatens to make an already heated oil market even more volatile.
Pressure is growing on the U.S. to hit back harder at the invasion of Ukraine by squeezing exports from Russia’s key energy industry. While traders, shippers, insurers and banks are increasingly wary of taking on or funding purchases of Russian barrels, an embargo could extend crude’s record gain last week.
“We are now talking to our European partners and allies to look in a coordinated way at the prospect of banning the import of Russian oil, while making sure that there is still an appropriate supply of oil on world markets,” Blinken said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “That’s a very active discussion as we speak.”
