Musk seeks immediate boost in oil, gas production to replace Russian output

Tesla Founder Elon Musk called for an immediate increase in oil and gas production around the world because sustainable solutions cannot replace Russian output.

"Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil & gas output immediately," Musk wrote on Twitter on Friday. "Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures."

Musk added that although increasing oil and gas production would affect Tesla negatively, sustainable energy solutions cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil and gas exports.

Earlier in the day, Bloomberg News reported that the Biden administration is considering imposing a ban on imports of Russian crude oil to the United States.

US Senators Joe Manchin proposed a bill that would prohibit the import of Russian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union Address on Wednesday, pledged to enable exports of energy from US reserves with the EU working on to curb energy dependence on Russia, in particular by building LNG terminals and negotiating with alternative suppliers, including Norway.