U.S. reliance on Russian oil hits record high; Biden pressed to ease clampdown on U.S. energy

President Biden moved Tuesday to check Russian President Vladimir Putin’s energy leverage, releasing strategic oil reserves as U.S. petroleum imports from Russia hit a record high and frustration mounted over the administration’s domestic fossil fuel crackdown.

The U.S. imported 245 million barrels of Russian crude oil and petroleum products last year, a surge of about 24% over 2020, according to preliminary 2021 figures released Monday by the Energy Information Administration.

“This equates to nearly 672,000 barrels per day — an all-time record and a 79% increase from just four years ago,” Martin Durbin, senior vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.

The increased U.S. reliance on Russian energy fed calls for Mr. Biden to loosen his grip on domestic oil and gas production, starting with lifting restrictions on federal leasing and reversing his cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline.

“President Biden needs to stop financing Putin’s war with Russian oil because he shut off the spigots of American energy,” said House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican. “It’s having devastating impacts on the people of Ukraine, but it’s putting billions of dollars in Putin’s pocket.”

Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas introduced a bill Tuesday to ban the import of the Kremlin’s petroleum products. The legislation garnered the support of at least eight other Republicans, including Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the ranking Republican on the Energy Committee.

“First and foremost, President Biden needs to restart America’s energy production and quit funding Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine by continuing to purchase crude oil from Russia,” Mr. Marshall told Fox News Digital about his bill.

Mr. Biden on Tuesday authorized the Department of Energy to release 30 million barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a global effort to mitigate supply shocks from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Today’s announcement is another example of partners around the world condemning Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and working together to address the impact of President Putin’s war of choice,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “President Biden was clear from the beginning that all tools are on the table to protect American businesses and consumers, including from rising prices at the pump.”

International Energy Agency member states undertook a broader effort by collectively releasing an initial 60 million barrels of crude oil from their respective reserves.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm reiterated the administration’s support for investing in clean energy as “the best way to reduce domestic and international dependence on Russian oil and gas” on the way to achieving net-zero U.S. emissions by 2050.

“Clean energy technologies are available and cost-effective today and offer the surest path towards a world where energy supply cannot be used as a means of political coercion or a threat to national security, and where families and businesses are protected from volatile prices and markets,” Ms. Granholm said.

Her message came as a stiff-arm to industry and business groups that are urging the administration to fight Russian energy dominance in Europe by unleashing U.S. producers.

The Chamber’s Mr. Durbin suggested several “no-brainers,” starting with lifting the ban on leasing and accelerating permitting on federal land, accounting for 22% of total oil production and 12% of natural gas.

He also urged the Energy Department to approve permits for six proposed liquified natural gas terminals that have languished for months and in some cases years.

“With oil prices now pushing $100 per barrel and Russia dependent on energy sales to fund the government’s budget — including its military and the invasion of Ukraine — the leverage Russia’s energy exports exert over the West is now on display for the world to see,” Mr. Durbin said. “This reality is forcing urgent reconsideration of energy policies that contribute to this dependence.”

U.S. imports of Russian crude oil surged after the Trump administration imposed sanctions in 2019 on Venezuela, which exports crude better suited for U.S. refineries than the light, sweet crude produced domestically, said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance.

About 8% of U.S. imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products come from Russia, according to EIA figures.

“We actually export and import even when we were a net exporter under the Trump administration,” said Ms. Sgamma. “We were still importing oil and then exporting refined product or light sweet crude to be refined elsewhere because we just don’t have enough refining capacity in the United States for our light, sweet crude.”

U.S. oil production fell during the pandemic as domestic and worldwide demand dropped, but Ms. Sgamma blamed the 2021 decline in part on the administration’s policies.

“This administration is just hostile to this industry, so we’re not producing as much as we were during the Trump administration,” she said. “We’re down about 1 million barrels of oil a day.”

The Biden administration hit Russia with economic sanctions last week in response to the invasion of Ukraine but specifically avoided sanctioning Russian oil and gas because of concerns about disrupting world energy markets and rising fuel prices for U.S. consumers.

Even so, some Republicans called for Mr. Biden to impose energy sanctions and make up the difference with U.S. production.

Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican, urged the administration Tuesday to sanction Russian energy “right away.” She said Mr. Putin “still survives off the revenue streams that are coming in through those sources.”

“What we see from this administration is a focus on a deranged climate policy,” she said on Fox News. “There’s no other way that we can explain this, where we have cut back American energy production and have become much more reliant on Russia and other nations like Russia.”

Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, called it “hypocritical” to import Russian crude while decrying the attack on Ukraine.

“While Americans decry what is happening in Ukraine, the United States continues to allow the import of more than half a million barrels per day of crude oil and other petroleum products from Russia during this time of war,” Mr. Manchin said. “This makes no sense at all and represents a clear and present danger to our nation’s energy security.”

Mark Finley, a scholar of energy and global oil markets at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, said Russia’s political leverage lies in its role as the “biggest exporter of natural gas and second biggest exporter of oil after Saudi Arabia.”

“To me, it’s not so much about U.S. dependence on Russia as it is about Russia’s ability to use its position as one of the biggest exporters of oil and gas in the world for its own geopolitical leverage,” said Mr. Finley. “It is an issue, but it’s not an issue because the U.S. imports it. It’s because the world uses it.”

• Haris Alic contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.