A caption on an April 26 viral Facebook video claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin “just SHUTDOWN All Oil To The US, Collapsing The US Economy!”
This is incorrect, and was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The video shows real estate investor and former TV news anchor Clayton Morris seemingly talking about the situation with Russia’s oil and various countries in the midst of its war with Ukraine. While Morris’ voice is heard, his lips aren’t synced with the audio, and he makes no mention in the clip that Russia is “shutting down” or ceasing to export oil to the U.S.
The caption appears to be a clickbait scheme, prompting people to watch for bombshell news that never comes.
This claim is particularly problematic because it’s been more than a year since President Joe Biden signed an executive order on March 8, 2022, banning all imports of Russian oil, natural gas and coal.
“There is absolutely nothing factual about this claim,” said Clark Williams-Derry, an energy analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “It’s illegal for the U.S. to buy Russian oil, so there’s nothing Putin can do because it’s already happened. The global supply chains have already been reorganized.”
Even if Putin had banned Russian oil to the U.S., it would have very little effect on the economy, Williams-Derry said.
The U.S. already produces a lot of oil on its own, and it exports more of these products than it imports. A White House statement about the 2022 ban said that the U.S. was able to take the step because of its strong domestic energy infrastructure.
There has been a drop in oil prices in recent days, but market experts credit that largely to weak demand and economic jitters over banking. This is the opposite of what would be expected with prices if this claim were accurate.
It’s not. This claim is Pants on Fire!
