Ukraine war ups pressure for US oil; industry faces hurdles

By MATTHEW BROWN and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s move last week to ban oil from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine was met with calls to boost U.S. production to help bring down soaring gasoline prices. But political rhetoric about quickly ramping up U.S. crude output is at odds with reality for the nation’s oil fields: Not enough workers, scant money to invest in drilling and wariness that today’s high prices won’t last. Analysts say the obstacles to more U.S. oil are surmountable, but will take months to work through and it could be late this year or early next before a significant production increase materializes.