To hear it from President Brandon, the current high cost of gasoline is all Vladimir Putin’s fault. “Putin’s gas hike!” is a common Brandon theme.
But it’s all nonsense. Putin is actually responsible for very little of the cost of gasoline.
According to the U.S. Energy Energy Administration, the cost of gasoline was $2.096 a gallon on Election Day 2020. By Inauguration Day it had climbed to $2.334 a gallon. The date of the invasion of Ukraine was February 24; at that time the price had risen to $3.517 a gallon. Putin cannot be blamed for any price rises which occurred before the date of the invasion.
Since that time, it is true that the United States has embargoed Russian oil imports into the United States. However, this has had a minimal impact on the cost of gasoline because Europe has not embargoed Russian oil.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Europe has taken only baby steps to reduce its appetite for Russian oil and gas. Europe has announced, not one, but six packages of sanctions, and all fall woefully short of ending their import on Russian oil. ......Russia is still adding its oil production to the world’s markets. In addition to Europe, Russia now is selling discounted oil to China and India. This will result in less demand for oil from the Mideast, which frees up that oil for sale elsewhere."
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