Russia Oil Ban: What It Means For NYC

NEW YORK CITY — President Joe Biden's plan to ban Russian oil imports could make New York City motorists take a hit at the pumps.

Biden announced his oil ban Tuesday as a next step to make President Vladimir Putin and Russia face consequences for the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine — the largest incursion on a European country since World War II.

He noted "Putin's war" has already hurt American families at the gas pump, where prices went up 75 cents since Russian forces entered Ukraine.

"This is a step that we're taking to inflict further pain on Putin, but there will be a cost as well here in the United States," he said.

Gas prices in New York City already stand at $4.37 per gallon on average, according to AAA. The price of gas recently topped $4 a gallon nationwide, the highest since the crippling 2008 recession.

Some analysts are skeptical Biden's embargo on Russian oil exports will have a big effect, since that crude represents about 8 percent of the United States’ foreign oil, according to The Wall Street Journal.

But Biden argued the move — which has support of Democrats and Republicans alike — is necessary as part of a wider set of unprecedented sanctions against Russia. Isolating Russia's economy has caused its ruble to crater to less than one American penny, he said.

The United States and its partners will release 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves to minimize "Putin's price hike" at the gas pumps, Biden said.

He argued that energy independence away from fossil fuels — for the United States and other countries that are even more dependent on Russian oil — will mean "tyrants" won't be able to use them as economic weapons.

"When the history of this war is written, Putin's war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger," he said.