Gas prices are likely to jump in the U.S as President Joe Biden announced sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. Biden, however, conceded that his administration will use “every tool at our disposal” to contain the effect of such sanctions on gas.
Q4 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Gas Prices
As reported by CNN, Biden announced the government will take measures to soften the brunt of U.S. economic sanctions against Russia on gas prices in the coming months. However, he did not specify the actions he would take.
“As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs, for us as well and here at home. We need to be honest about that. But as we do this, I'm going to take robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours," he said.
He further conceded his administration is closely following energy supplies in case of any disruption that may cause a jump in gas prices.
In the White House East Room, he told reporters: “We're executing a plan in coordination with major oil-producing consumers and producers toward a collective investment to secure stability and global energy supply.”
Sanctions
The president also added, “This [the plan] will blunt gas prices. I want to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump. This is critical to me.”
On February 22, Biden described events in Ukraine as “the beginning of a Russian invasion” and announced a “first tranche” of sanctions against the Eurasia giant in an attempt to “cut off Russia's government from Western finance.”
With these measures, Russia “can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either… We will also impose sanctions on Russia's elites and their family members.”
Also, despite the U.S.’ reinforcement of its allies with additional troops and equipment deployed in the conflict area, Biden conceded that diplomacy is still an option to deescalate the crisis and avoid military intervention.
