By Liz Hampton

HOUSTON (Reuters – The U.S. executive team at a conference on energy will focus their Tuesday attention to renewables. They also plan to shift from fossil fuels to long-term alternatives.

CERAWeek Energy Conference in Houston opened Monday with crude oil prices at their highest level since 2008. The conference focuses on how to decrease dependence on Russia, which is the world’s largest exporter of oil. However, Western sanctions are getting tighter.

Sources said that the United States could even take this step without Europe after it has been in talks with its allies about banning Russian oil imports. Retail gasoline prices in America hit a record high on Tuesday.

CERAWEEK’s Tuesday panels, which were to be focused on energy transition, will feature discussion about electric and renewable energy. However, production of these vehicles is increasing rapidly, they still account for a tiny percentage of global autos.

Saudi Aramco (SE: ) Chief Executive Amin Nasser will likely speak. It is not clear if he will talk about global oil supply issues.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil exporter worldwide, has been de facto leading the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is allied with Russia. The output reductions of the OPEC+ group have been slowly reversing.

Washington and the other end-consumers have been pressing for faster production growth by OPEC+. But, there is not enough spare capacity and some OPEC+ countries are having trouble meeting their existing production quotas.

Mohammad Barkindo, Secretary General of OPEC, stated that geopolitics is dominating oil prices and although tight markets are causing some destruction in demand, the “other side” is more important at the moment. He said supply is becoming less competitive.

On Monday, OPEC representatives met with executives from U.S. shale oils companies on the sidelines of the conference.

Many buyers are reluctant to buy Russian oil and natural gas. This is in order not to be ensnared in the sanctions that could cause a severe supply disruption. Russia exports between 4 and 5 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd), as well as 2 to 3 million barrels of its products every day.

The advocates of renewables believe Russia’s invasion Ukraine should be a catalyst for the switch to cleaner fuels. More oil and gas investment would, in any circumstance, increase our dependence on fossil fuels.