Member-only story
Putin’s Price Hike
In recent weeks, Biden announced a release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to lower the price of oil and gas.
Meanwhile, the US is exporting oil at an unprecedented rate to Europe.
Then the US is leading the charge to place a cap on oil prices from Russia. While Russia has been providing oil to trading partners at a price lower than the international standard, enforcing a cap on oil prices from Russia will not work. What is likely to happen is that Russia will reduce production and could completely cease exports to any country trying to enforce that cap. If that happens, the result would be a global oil shortage, driving the price of oil to prices never before seen. Various experts have stated that the price of oil could reach as high as $400 a barrel, which is four times the current price. That would mean gasoline could be $16–20 a gallon.
Ultimately, what this means is that releasing oil from the SPR is nothing more than performative theater.
It also means millions of people in numerous countries will die from hypothermia this coming winter. That does include the US.
Or it will mean one of two alternatives. That there will be mass uprisings in the countries imposing sanctions on Russia, leading…
