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With President Trump seemingly changing his tune on Russia last week, hinting that Ukraine might be able to reclaim all its lost territory and win the war with Russia outright, we've seen the price of crude oil spike. So what's the connection, and how far will prices rise?
The connection is Ukraine's strategy for winning the war, which is to directly target Russia's oil infrastructure. Karr Ingham with the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers explained that this will cause prices to rise because "Oil is a global commodity, so anything that affects the supply of crude oil to the global marketplace will send crude oil prices higher."
Trump's role in pushing Ukraine across the finish line to victory could include putting increased sanctions and other barriers in place to keep Russian oil off the global market. According to Ingham, "Trump may be pressuring purchasers of Russian oil to not purchase that oil, which is financing this war."
So what is all of this going to mean for Americans, specifically Texans? Thankfully, probably not much. Ingham thinks that Texas's own rich supply of oil should keep us from seeing too much of a price hike at the pump. Prices could rise, but not too much higher than they are right now.