US imports: Prefer oil from Venezuela and Iran?

People in the US are moaning about the highest rate of inflation in more than 40 years. Stopping oil imports from Russia would further heat up the situation. Now the previously unimaginable is being considered.

You currently have to pay more than four dollars for a gallon of regular gasoline at American gas stations: That is almost the highest gasoline price of all time in the USA. Accordingly, 73 percent of citizens are frustrated by President Joe Biden’s energy policy. And yet, to help besieged Ukraine, 80 percent of US drivers would dig even deeper into their pockets at the pump. That was the result of a survey by the Reuters news agency.

Eight out of ten Americans are in favor of their country stopping buying oil from Russia, which should result in a further rise in prices. “So far, the President has not made a decision,” Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki recently emphasized. “The topic will continue to be discussed internally and also with our partners around the world!”

Import cheaper than domestic oil

The pressure from both parties is increasing. If only the Washington MPs had their way, the import of Russian oil would be over. “Instead of exporting energy, we’ve become an importer of Russian oil,” said Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa. The USA, which has long been the world’s largest oil producer, actually doesn’t need the imports. But they are cheaper than local alternatives.

However, support for an end to the oil deals with Russia also came from the other end of the political spectrum – for example from Nancy Pelosi, leader of the Democratic parliamentary group in the House of Representatives. She, too, supports the ban on Russian oil.

But how to cushion the consequences for consumers when American elections are said to be decided “at the pump”?

Discussions about the unthinkable

In Washington, therefore, the until recently unthinkable is being discussed: imports from Venezuela and possibly also from Iran. “In the case of Venezuela, US government officials were actually in Caracas,” said government spokeswoman Psaki, “but they didn’t just have oil imports on their list.” This also applies to a similar visit recently in Riyadh. Because imports from Saudi Arabia are also being discussed again.

And the recent probes with Iran? Yes, it was also about oil, says Psaki, but above all about not allowing Iran to become a nuclear power.

The piquant thing about it: both Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and the leadership in Tehran recently sided with Putin in the Ukraine conflict. The fact that Washington sought talks with both of them shows once again how threatening the Biden government considers the explosion in energy prices in the parliamentary election year.

And finally, to put the price increase in perspective: If a gallon of regular gasoline now costs an average of 4.07 dollars in the US, then that corresponds to a liter price of around one euro. So about half of what you currently have to pay at German gas stations.