US energy policy has created financially favorable conditions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: Rick Santorum

The weakness of the Biden administration’s energy policy has been one of the decisive factors in prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine, said Rick Santorum, a former US Senator in Pennsylvania. rice field.

Santram needs to fund the war in an interview with Epoch TV’s “Crossroads” program on March 11, and Russia earns money from the energy sector to fund the army and continue to feed its people. Said that it depends on.

Since then Oil price It has increased from about $ 60 per barrel a year ago to $ 65, and more recently to about $ 130 per barrel. Russia “sells half of the oil and can still make as much money. [it] I made it a year ago [it’s] It will sell more than half, “Santram explained.

President Joe Biden shuts down US oil and gas production, including the Keystone XL pipeline, and Europe to Russia’s energy with “Nord Stream 2 Green Light” and “China Turning Back to Russia” Combined with growing dependence Mr. Santrum said “oil buyers” have created a perfect situation for Russia.

The oil and gas industry accounts for about one-fifth of Russia’s gross domestic product. 60 percent According to the country’s exports Inside the climate news..

The World Bank reports that part of Russia’s federal budget revenue comes from oil and gas. 60 percent increase The first nine months of 2021.

At the end of 2021, Russia’s oil and gas sales far exceeded the initial forecasts for 2021 as a result of soaring prices, accounting for 36% of the country’s total budget. Reuters report.

After Biden announced on March 8 that Russia’s oil imports would be banned due to the invasion of Ukraine, crude oil prices in Europe reached a high of $ 132 per barrel and in the United States a high of $ 123. Per barrel, financier and entrepreneur Chadwick Hagan wrote for the Epoch Times.

Russia’s policy of not buying oil will not have a significant impact on Russia’s oil sales capacity if most European countries and other countries in the world continue to buy oil, Santram said. .. ..

“The challenge to the Russians is to lower the price of oil, and the way to lower the price of oil is to produce more oil,” Santram said.

“We can get a lot of work online very quickly. But the administration sent a message to the oil company, it said,” We don’t want you to do this, we do you. I don’t want you to do this in federal land …. We’re going to make it difficult for you. We’re going to make it expensive for you. “

According to Santram, oil producers are reluctant to increase oil production because they don’t trust the government’s intentions and fear that policies could change within six months due to the Green New Deal. That is.

Biden administration’s energy policy

Prior to the pandemic, the United States was an exporter of oil and natural gas, he said.

According to Santram, the country needs a coastal transport facility that ships can pull in, fill with natural gas and deliver to buyers in order to be able to export natural gas.

He explained that several gas transport plants were built in the United States within the last few years, but more are needed, but the Biden administration has postponed those projects.

“We can produce as much gas as the world needs, but we don’t have the equipment to ship it because Biden has permission,” Santram added. “Biden has strengthened Russia, weakened American dominance in the oil region, and is all in the interests of the Russians.”

“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued two policy statements clarifying that the hurdles for permitting liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and their feeder pipelines will be higher rather than lower. “” Said Tom Pyle, President of the Institute for. Energy research, when he testified in front of the Parliamentary Commission on March 8.

Instead of producing more oil domestically, Washington is calling on Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran to produce more oil, Santram said.

The Biden administration is trying to secure oil supply from Venezuela by removing sanctions on Venezuela. US sanctions on Venezuela began under former President Barack Obama. Under the Trump administration, economic sanctions, especially on the oil sector, have been tightened and domestic oil production has increased significantly.

The sanctions were intended to force the socialist Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to relinquish power. The 2018 elections that appointed him president of the country were considered fraudulent in Washington and more than 50 other countries.

Russia is not only benefiting from US policies that push up global oil prices, but also countries such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, Santram said.

“Most of them are not natural allies of the United States,” he said.

Electric vehicles are one of the alternatives to the rising gas prices promoted by the Biden administration. But “only American high- and middle-income earners can afford them,” Santram said.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Butigeg said MSNBC In an interview in November 2021, the Build Back Better bill “includes an incentive to make electric cars more affordable. In fact, for families considering buying an EV. , Includes discounts of up to $ 12,500. Electric cars never have to worry about gas prices again, “Buttigieg said.

Commentator Thomas McCardle wrote in the Epoch Times that some of this discount applies only to cars produced by trade unions in the United States. He said the price of electricity is also rising.

Mark Tapscott and Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report.