| Russian oil ban
In response to the continued Russian war in Ukraine, Biden announced the ban of all imports of Russian fossil fuels.
In a seemingly meaningless political response, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he was banning the export, as well as the import, or certain "products" and "raw materials," according to a statement translated by Interfax Information Services Group.
The statement, which was released yesterday, did not specify which items would be affected.
Only a week from the State of the Union address where he promised to tackle inflation, Biden potentially delivered the most meaningful sanction of all, delivering a "blow to Putin's war machine."
At the same time, this may also be the biggest blow to Biden's proposed plan to ease inflation.
Similar to a head-butt in hand-to-hand combat, this one hurts a lot for both sides, which Biden acknowledged in his speech.
While the U.S. gets most of its oil imports from Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, the amount it gets from Russia cannot be ignored either.
Last year, America imported roughly 8% of its oil and refined products from Russia, energy analyst Andy Lipow recently told the Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. Energy Information Administration data.
Also, while we usually think of gas (petrol) prices being affected, a deeper dive shows that 60% of the electricity that powers America's homes and office buildings comes from fossil fuels, and the largest source of this is natural gas.
If you're interested in a deeper dive on the subject of supply, demand and U.S. energy inflation, I covered the matter in a recent blog.
The announcement was not a total surprise, as people have been discussing the ban of Russian fossil fuels for the past several weeks.
I will be watching how this plays out in world markets over the coming weeks and months. | 
