Tuesday evening, March 2, AFPM President & CEO Chet Thompson sent a letter in response to members of the House of Representatives who misread an earlier educational blog post from AFPM as a statement of policy.
The letter makes clear the intent of our original blog and AFPM’s position in support of suspending future crude and petroleum product purchases from Russia. In addition to the transition period described in the letter, AFPM separately recommends promoting U.S. energy production, affordable domestic access to U.S. crude and refined products, and reforms to make it more economical to produce gasoline and diesel in the United States. Full text of the letter is below:
Dear Representatives Rush, McNerney, Peters, Castor, Welch, and Blunt Rochester,
This responds to your letter of March 2, 2022, inquiring about AFPM’s position on the import of Russian crude oil and petroleum products. We would like to make several things clear. First and foremost, AFPM supports the people of Ukraine against Russia’s unprovoked acts of war. These acts of aggression are unacceptable and should be met with fierce opposition. Second, AFPM fully supports the suspension of all future purchases of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia. To protect consumers, however, any import prohibition should exempt products currently in transit to the United States.
Your letter mischaracterizes AFPM’s February 25th blog. It was not a defense of the continued importation of Russian crude and petroleum products, nor did it stake out a policy position. Rather, the blog was written as a factual response to multiple inquiries from policymakers and the media about the extent to which Russian crude was used by U.S. refineries, the impact an import prohibition might have on refinery operations and consumers, and policies that could be adopted to blunt these impacts.
Again, AFPM supports the people of Ukraine and stands ready to help however we can.
Sincerely,
Chet Thompson
AFPM President & CEO
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) is the leading trade association representing the makers of the fuels that keep us moving, the petrochemicals that are the essential building blocks for modern life, and the midstream companies that get our feedstocks and products where they need to go. We make the products that make life better, safer and more sustainable — we make progress.
