AUSTIN, Texas — It’s not as though gas prices have been dropping. In fact, this week – according to AAA – they’ve reached their highest average price at the pump since 2014.
In the Austin metro area, the average price of regular unleaded gas on Tuesday was $3.14. That’s 84 cents a gallon more than one year ago on this date when it cost $2.30 a gallon.
Prices had been going up as demand has increased and supplies have been limited. And now, as Russia appears to be preparing for war against Ukraine, energy experts say an invasion would immediately affect energy markets.
Russia is one of the world's largest producers of oil and natural gas, accounting for 17% of the world's natural gas and 12% of its oil.
Analysts say U.S. sanctions against Russia could lead to retaliation.
“The fear is Russia could react and take their supply, their large supply, of crude oil off the global market in a time when supply and demand in the global market is already really tight,” said Daniel Armbruster, a spokesperson for AAA. “That would further cause crude oil prices to increase and, again, because crude oil prices played such a big role in what we pay in retail gas price, we would see our gas prices here in Texas and across the United States increase.”
It’s not just prices at the gas pump, Armbruster said. Higher oil prices will also increase the costs of heating our homes and keeping the lights on.
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