Welcome back to the show as Russia intensifies its war on Ukraine.
President joe biden announcing earlier today, a ban on imported Russian oil.
It's huge. News.
Critics of Russia have said this would in fact be
the best way to force Moscow to pull back,
but curbs on Russian oil exports are expected to
send already skyrocketing oil and gas prices even higher
and further impact consumers, businesses, financial markets
and the overall global economy here. Now to discuss Leslie buyer.
Lesley is ceo of the energy workforce and Technology Council,
which is the National Trade Association for the Energy,
Technology and Services sector.
Welcome to the show here. So what will happen here with a U. S. Ban on Russian oil?
It's been talked about for quite some time.
Some skepticism, democrats now want republicans want it.
The President made it a reality. What are we looking at?
So it's certainly going to increase pricing, but it is the right thing to do.
Um, the industry itself has already pulled out of all of its, you know,
the significant portion of its operations in Russia.
Um,
and it just goes to show you how we do
not need to be reliant on these foreign tyrants um,
that can disrupt global energy markets.
The energy prices are soaring and this certainly
will make it worse in the short term.
I mean,
what percentage of our oil were we in
the United States really getting from Russia understanding
we're not Germany were not a lot of other countries in Western europe that has two
more disproportionately rely on Moscow.
It's
I would argue a little bit of a lower percentage
here in the US than some people would realize.
It's a very low percentage.
Um, we do have to import some oil just because the way that our refineries are set up,
but it's a very small percentage of what
we import from Russia comes into California actually,
primarily and that's because of poor policy decisions there.
We have the energy supplies here in the US that we need to
be able to produce not only for ourselves but for our allies.
So we shouldn't need to take Russian oil.
Um, and we support that ban from the administration,
but here it just goes to show you that we need to be able to prioritize
what we can do in the United States to produce oil and gas efficiently cleanly.
Um, and affordably, certainly for our Allies gas prices,
oil prices were already very high in europe before.
Um, even this conflict that's created that this intensity of the crisis right now,
but they had transitioned to quickly to renewables
without giving themselves a backstop of reliable,
affordable natural gas.
And so now the rest of the world's producers are rushing to fill that gap.
Um,
but we should be able to do that with
the right investment and certainly with the right U.
S. Policy,
Leslie for the average american viewer who's watching at home,
that person saying I am already paying an arm and a leg and so much
more simply to fill my tank versus what I had to do a year ago.
How much more money Leslie are you telling me that I may now need to pay
even if morally this is the right stand,
I may agree with as it pertains to hold the Russian accountable,
I'm gonna feel it at home, aren't I?
What should the average consumer know,
we will fill it at home.
But the average consumer needs to understand
that oil is a globally traded commodity.
The prices are not set by energy companies in the U. S. Or anywhere else.
It's a matter of economics,
supply demand in scarcity and there was scarcity not only because of the pandemic,
but because of years of under investment because of
negative rhetoric and not enough capital into the industry.
And so now our industry is catching up but we need to support and
promote what we can do to help increase us supply that will help prices
because it's not just a U. S. Story, it is a global commodity, it's not any different.
You look at wheat right now Russia exports a lot of wheat, so does the United States,
wheat is up 75%
costs are going up across the board because it is a commodity.
And so energy producers here in the US are
doing what we can to keep those costs reasonable.
We're focused on keeping energy affordable,
reliable and secure and that is what we do best here in the US
is this time for a fundamental rethinking of the
role of nuclear power here in the United States.
You certainly see countries like Germany are learning lessons
that the hard way I've heard just this week,
that there are a lot of discussions in the eu about turning
actually to cole um to help them in the short term,
which is obviously counterintuitive to environmental goals.
Um but we need all forms of energy.
We need nuclear, we need oil and gas, we need a little bit of coal and energy.
We need renewables as well and we need continued investment in those,
but we can't pick and choose winners and losers.
It is a geographically driven choice for each area,
what resource a specific country has, that they can rely on.
An energy transition should be a focus on reduction of emissions,
not choosing winners or losers across the energy system.
I really appreciate your perspective on an important story on an important day,
Leslie, by our ceo of the energy workforce and Technology Council.
Leslie thanks a lot. Nice to have you