Russia has threatened to send oil prices soaring if the West sanctions Russia’s crude exports in reaction to the attack on Ukraine.
“It is self-evident that rejecting Russian oil would have disastrous effects on the world economy,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated.
“The price increase would be unforeseeable. It would cost at least $300 per barrel.”
I did not know we got the majority of our oil from Russia. That's because we don't. There is zero justification for gas prices going up at all because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. imports 8 million barrels of oil each day and gets 200,000 of that from Russia.
— Henry M. Rosenberg (@DoctorHenryCT) March 7, 2022
“At the moment, we have not made such a choice,” Novak stated. “However, European politicians’ words and charges against Russia drive us in that direction.”
Impending Troubles
Novak said European leaders should be honest with their people and customers about what to expect; if they didn’t want Russian energy, Russia would be willing to “redirect” the goods to other places.
The announcement comes as President Joe Biden prepared to declare on Tuesday the United States would prohibit the purchase of Russian oil, following days of condemnation from critics and some in the traditional media.
The New York Times said Biden was going to prohibit the import of Russian oil into the United States.
This is a dramatic escalation of economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but also a step that might further upset global energy markets and drive up gas prices.
Biden’s declaration, slated for Tuesday, comes as Ukrainian troops and civilian forces continue to suffocate Russian forces, defending critical cities’ boundaries and suffering huge losses to the bigger and better equipped Russian army.
⚡️ Joe Biden: 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.
— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) March 8, 2022
When gas prices rose this week, they set a new record high for the country as a whole. The previous record was set in 2008, more than ten years ago.
According to GasBuddy, “The average national price of gas in the United States today shattered the previous record, revising the all-time high to $4.104 a gallon.”
“The previous record was established in 2008 at $4.103 a gallon, just before the Great Recession and housing crisis in the United States.”
Records and Statistics
According to GasBuddy, a site that gathers info on fuel costs to save customers money, “the price of diesel is anticipated to shatter the milestone of $4.846 a gallon in the next two weeks.”
In addition to breaking a new record, the national average is seeing its highest weekly increase in history: 49.1 cents per gallon, surpassing the 49.0 cents weekly increase following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
On Saturday, the national average gasoline price in the United States exceeded $4 per gallon for the first time since 2008.
Friday’s jump came dangerously close to matching the record daily increase of 18 cents per gallon, gaining about 16 cents per gallon in a single day.
On the other hand, diesel prices broke records on Friday, surging to their highest daily gain in history: 22.2 cents per gallon, up six cents from the previous record set in 2013.
On Tuesday morning, AAA announced the national average price of gasoline increased to $4.173 per gallon.
