USA increases oil imports from Russia considerably

In 2020, the United States significantly increased imports of oil and petroleum products from Russia, Bloomberg reports.

Russia supplied an average of 538,000 barrels of petroleum products to the United States a day. As of the year end, Russia's supplies of oil and petroleum products to the USA accounted for seven percent of total purchases. Earlier, the indicator fluctuated at the level of 0.5 percent.

The sharp increase in the imports of oil and petroleum products was based on sanctions against Venezuela, and the decrease in the volume of supplies from OPEC countries after the cartel cut oil production.

American refiners mostly buy fuel oil, rather than crude oil from Russia. Fuel oil is then used for gasoline production plants.

America's growing dependence on Russian oil comes contrary to USA's energy security doctrine. Former CIA oil analyst Mark Finley said that former US President Donald Trump's remarks on the subject, who said that the United States would never have to be dependent on hostile foreign suppliers, were nothing but a "mantra."

On March 1, Trump said that the United States would fall into dependence on Russia and the Middle East in oil supplies during Joe Biden's presidency. He pointed out that the United States had already lost its superpower status in the energy sector, and added that under Democrats' rule, the price of gasoline in the country had already risen by a third.

A recent report from the US Energy Information Administration said that the department was expecting the price of Brent oil to rise to $173 per barrel by 2050. However, a pessimistic scenario gives the price of about $48 per barrel.