WACO, Texas — In 2020, about seven percent of U.S. petroleum imports including crude oil came from Russia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
While that isn't a lot, a ban on Russian oil will impact the global market and could increase gas prices even more.
"The reason why we are seeing volatility in the global oil markets, the reason why the price of gas is going up is not because of the steps the president is taking, it's because President Putin is invading Ukraine and that is creating a great deal of instability in the global market place," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.
Psaki says that President Biden has agreed to release more oil from the Strategic Oil Preserve but that a full ban on Russian oil is not happening as of Friday.
“There isn’t a strategic interest in reducing global oil supply because that will increase the price of barrels of oil and increase gas prices," she said. "We are looking at ways to reduce the import of Russian oil while also maintaining the global supply needs out there.”
AAA in Texas says that gas prices in Waco increased 13 cents in the last week alone. One spokesperson for the company said that gas in Texas could hit $4 in 2022.
There have been incidences, in 2008, where gas soared and came back to average in the same year, but the price could continue to rise.
"Certainly there's concern over what Russia will do and we're in a global economy so even though this is happening far away from home, the conflict, that oil is sold on the global market," AAA said.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that she would support a ban on Russian oil. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says that he wants President Biden to reopen pipelines inside the country.