Ukraine Snowball Effect

 The war in Ukraine has become a global mission to end Vladimir Putin’s ambitions at all costs. The unfortunate truth is that we the people are serving as sacrificial lambs. To cripple Russia world leaders have placed sanctions on Russia which have had a snowball effect.

 The sanctions on Russian oil have left a large hole in an already stretched market. With the global pandemic caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 people weren’t driving and because of less demand, the price of crude oil plummeted to under $40 per barrel, and with the world returning to pre covid life in the post covid era the supply simply can’t keep up. That being the case, the price of crude oil has skyrocketed as high as $130 per barrel with prices currently averaging $118, unprecedented numbers. A single barrel generates approximately 19 gallons of gasoline. That puts the global average price of gasoline at over $6 per gallon for vendors. With Russia being the third-largest producer of oil on the planet accounting for 40% of EU oil imports the supply has been significantly cut.

 The world is now presented with two options, either remove the sanctions on Russia allowing the supply to grow or find a way to replace it. With the current sanctions, the EU has ceased Russian exports via sea which account for 90% of the Russian oil and gas trade. With oil and gas accounting for 45% of Russia’s income this is sure to hurt the country, however, it will continue to hurt the rest of the world’s population as well. With the EU only working with 60% of their usual supply and an ever-growing demand price can and will only continue to go up. In response to what has become an energy shortage crisis the likes that Europe hasn’t seen since WWII the U.S has sent an alarming amount of oil to Europe since the invasion of Ukraine has begun, sending nearly 50 million barrels in April alone.

 This is alarming because with every extra gallon sent to Europe a gallon is no longer in America meaning our prices will rise even higher soon. With the rise in energy costs, all other consumer goods are sure to follow. The issue may be most visible when paying at the pump, but it certainly doesn’t stop there. Our farmers and industrial workers rely on these sources of energy to produce the very fibers of our society. With gas prices getting higher, so does the cost to run a tractor, as does the cost of products produced. So, when you notice higher prices at your local grocery store you know why now.

 When foreign leaders got involved in this war, they doomed all of us to suffer the consequences in hopes that they could strong-arm the Russians. If this war doesn’t end soon the global economy will suffer a crash that we had hoped would be impossible in the post-world war era. The only other choice is for world leaders to pull out of this conflict and allow it to take its course. Unfortunately, the EU and the oval office have made it clear that the feud with a post-communist Russia holds more weight than the good of their own citizens, sacrificing our quality of life to aid those in Ukraine.