Biden to Ban Russian Oil Imports

The White House declined to comment and the Treasury Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russian oil makes up a small proportion of the crude that the U.S. imports. The U.S. gets most of its crude imports from Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. and its allies in Europe have unleashed a wave of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, but they have largely avoided targeting the country’s oil sector, the lifeblood of its economy, out of fear that limiting oil sales could cause crude prices to spike globally. Oil prices have already risen 58% since the beginning of the year and on Monday neared $140 a barrel.

Mr. Biden has said he wants to do everything he can to insulate Americans from continued oil and gasoline-price increases, and some of his advisers have raised concerns that a ban on Russian imports could exacerbate pain at the pump.

Biden administration officials and other allies of the White House worried privately that gasoline-price increases resulting from the ban could be a political liability for Democrats, some of the people said, noting that Republicans have already been criticizing the president over prices for months. The average price for regular gasoline in the U.S. hit $4.173 a gallon, a record high, AAA said Tuesday.

In recent days, as Russia continued its assault on Ukraine, the administration has taken a more serious look at the ban, the people familiar with the internal discussions said.

In a video call on Saturday, Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelensky

appealed directly to U.S. lawmakers to support a ban on Russian oil imports. Bipartisan legislation in the House and the Senate has picked up support from dozens of lawmakers.

Mrs. Pelosi told House Democrats on Tuesday morning that she planned to move ahead with legislation banning Russian oil imports, according to a Democratic aide. She said the White House had been telling her for days that they would impose the ban, the aide said.

The House will vote Wednesday on the bill, two Democratic lawmakers said. The legislation won’t include other measures Democrats had initially advocated for, such as taking steps to deny Russia access to the World Trade Organization.

The White House had sought to persuade Democrats not to move forward with the legislation because they were planning an executive action, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer, responsible for more than 10% of global supply, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. Its exports account for 7% of the world market, half of that going into Europe, according to analysts.

Europe’s reliance on Russian oil makes any decision about banning Russian imports on the continent particularly complicated. U.S. officials said they have been in regular communication with allies in Europe as they discussed the ban.

Oil analysts have said that sanctions previously imposed on Russia have already discouraged banks and oil companies from buying the country’s crude, and the sharp increase in oil prices in recent days is a sign the market expects further disruptions. Exxon Mobil Corp.,

BP

PLC and

Shell

PLC all announced plans to exit Russian operations last week. Shell went further on Tuesday, saying it would halt all spot purchase of crude from the country and phase out its other trading and business dealings.

Though the U.S. is the world’s biggest oil producer, it still imports millions of barrels each day from other parts of the world because the country consumes far more oil than companies extract domestically.

About 8% of U.S. imports of oil and refined products, or about 672,000 barrels a day, came from Russia last year, according to EIA data. Of that, Russia’s crude made up roughly 3% of the nation’s imports, about 200,000 barrels a day.

—Natalie Andrews and Ian Talley contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Restuccia at andrew.restuccia@wsj.com, Justin Scheck at justin.scheck@wsj.com and Vivian Salama at vivian.salama@wsj.com