Weaknesses of the Biden administration’s energy policies became one of the decisive factors that prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine, said Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.
War needs to be financed, and Russia relies on the revenue from the energy sector to fund its military and continue to feed its people, Santorum said in a March 11 interview for EpochTV’s “Crossroads” program.
Since oil prices increased from about $60 to $65 per barrel a year ago to about $130 per barrel recently, Russia “can sell half as much oil and still make as much money as [it] made a year ago, but [it’s] gonna sell a lot more than half as much,” Santorum explained.
The combination of President Joe Biden shutting down American production of oil and gas, such as the Keystone XL pipeline, and Europe becoming more dependent on Russian energy due to “greenlighting Nord Stream 2,” as well as “China with its having Russia’s back as a purchaser of oil,” has set up a perfect situation for Russia, Santorum said.
The oil and gas industry accounts for one-fifth of Russia’s gross domestic product and makes up about 60 percent of the country’s exports, according to Inside Climate News.
A World Bank report said that the portion of Russia’s federal budget revenue from oil and gas increased by 60 percent during the first nine months of 2021.
At the end of 2021, Russia’s sales of oil and natural gas far exceeded initial forecasts for 2021 as a result of skyrocketing prices, and it made up 36 percent of the country’s total budget, Reuters reported.
After Biden announced on March 8 that the United States would ban imports of Russian oil due to the invasion of Ukraine, the crude oil price in Europe hit a high of $132 per barrel, and in the United States, the price hit a high of $123 per barrel, Chadwick Hagan, a financier and entrepreneur, wrote for The Epoch Times.
By Ella Kietlinska and Joshua Philipp
