Good morning folks, I'm sorry to keep you waiting. It was a couple of phone calls.

Yesterday, President Joe Biden made a once unthinkable announcement.

Today I'm announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia's economy.

We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy.

A ban on one of the world's leading oil producers.

This is a step that we're taking to inflict further pain on Putin.

But there will be cost as well here in the United States.

I said I would love it.

Gas prices have been soaring in recent weeks.

And the US banning Russian oil is likely to push prices even higher.

To bring prices down, the US needs new sources of oil.

And to find them, it's looking in some very unlikely places, like Venezuela.

For years, the United States has economically isolated Venezuela.

To punish the country's authoritarian government,

its oil has been effectively banned across most of the world.

But Russia's invasion of Ukraine is making the US reconsider all that.

Oil prices which had already been rising, skyrocket,

and the political calculus changes very quickly.

Welcome to the journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Ryan Knutzen. It's Wednesday, March 9th.

Coming up on the show, how the Russian invasion has created an unlikely opening for

Venezuela and oil.

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