Jarrett Renshaw and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters] -The United States of America and European Allies are looking into banning Russian oil imports. U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken announced on Sunday that the White House had coordinated with key Congressional Committees to move forward with their own ban.

Europe depends on Russia for but, a source close to the discussion told Reuters that Europe has become more open in recent hours to the idea of banishing Russian products.

In a Sunday mail, Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives) stated that they are “exploring” laws to prohibit the import of Russian crude oil. She also indicated that Congress plans to enact this week $10 Billion in assistance for Ukraine as a response to Moscow’s military invasion of their neighbour.

According to a source, the White House has been in discussions with both the Senate Finance Committee and House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee regarding a possible ban.

Blinken, nevertheless, stressed that it was important to maintain steady global oil supply.

In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Blinken stated that they are currently in active talks about banning the import of Russian crude oil into their countries.

Blinken is currently on a European trip to coordinate with NATO the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He also stated that he had discussed oil imports on Saturday with President Joe Biden, his cabinet, and other members.

After the United States and allies sanctioned Russia for the invasion, oil prices have shot up in the last week.

On Thursday, a bipartisan group representing U.S. senators presented a bill to prohibit imports from Russia of oil. This bill is moving quickly and may eventually become the instrument for sanctions.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sanctions were imposed by the White House on technologies exports to Russia’s oil refineries, and Nord Stream 2 (which has not been launched) gas pipeline.

As the Biden Administration weighs the effects on oil markets worldwide and U.S. prices, the administration has not yet taken any action to attack Russia’s exports.

Blinken was asked if America has decided not to ban Russian oil imports unilaterally. He replied: “I don’t think they will rule out taking actions one way or the other, regardless of what their do but we have done everything, and the approach begins with coordination with allies, partners.”

Although he stated that there are additional steps the United States is looking into to put more pressure on Russia and he didn’t give any specifics, a number of them were being considered.

Americans are the largest consumers of gasoline in the world. This is due to their large cars and long driving distances. There’s also little public transport available. For U.S. politicians, rising gasoline prices are a political poison.

According to AAA, Sunday’s U.S. average price for one gallon of gasoline was $4.009, which is the highest since July 2008. On average, consumers pay 40cs less than they did a week ago and 57c more than what they paid a month ago.

In 2021, the United States imported on average more than 20.4 millions barrels of oil and refined products per month from Russia. That’s about 8% U.S. liquid fuel imports according to Energy Information Administration.