Ukraine latest news: Zelensky vows to fight Russia in ‘forests, fields and shores’ – BBC News

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Americans
are paying more at the pump as the conflict in Ukraine escalates and oil
markets respond. Petrol prices have jumped 11% in the past week.

Even
before the Ukraine conflict, prices were climbing after a pandemic slump.

On American
radio and TV, Republicans are lining up to point the finger at President Biden’s
energy policies.

They blame
the administration for halting American oil production. The argument goes that, by not issuing more leases and drilling permits, the government held back
production.

Biden says not so fast. During Tuesday’s press conference, he stressed that
many leases to drill on land and water weren’t being used. In fact, even with
prices surging, companies actually decreased the number of new oil drilling rigs by three last week.

Another
controversial decision involved the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline,
which Biden cancelled on his first day in office. Yet it’s unclear
how the pipeline between Canada and the US would have increased production.

When asked
about this recently, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “The
Keystone was not an oil field. It’s a pipeline. Also, the oil is continuing to
flow in, just through other means.”

And the
hope that US shale producers can help fix Europe’s energy problems also runs
into some hard truths – at least in the short term.

To export
gas, you need a facility to convert it into liquefied natural gas before
shipping. Right now, there simply aren’t enough export terminals to handle a
sharp increase in volume.

Still that
won’t stop Republicans in the coming weeks from trying to convince voters that
high gas prices are Biden’s fault.

BBC News