The United States and the European Union will impose new sanctions on Russian oil this winter as a response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The sanctions would ban seaborne imports of Russian crude oil, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Pipeline imports to the EU will not be included in sanctions.
The new sanctions will further reduce global supply, as Russia’s war on Ukraine drags into a fifth month. With gas prices just beginning to fall throughout the US, multiple outlets are reporting a potential tripling of crude oil prices due to the sanctions.
O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs faculty member and energy specialist John Rupp said more significant factors have played into oil prices than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rupp said importing nations see sanctions as a threat to their supply and begin immediately looking toward alternative exporters.
Read more: Gas prices break $5 across Indiana
“It's probably moving toward more of a buyer’s market versus a seller's market in the world of importers in crude,” Rupp said. “And, I'm really going to be a little prognosticator here for a second, I really don't anticipate any significant increases in our price of either motor fuels or other products.”
For now, consumers are seeing prices fall. One month ago, the average price of a gallon of gas in Indiana was $5. It’s now $4.29.
