Gas prices above $4 per gallon as Russia-Ukraine war impacts supply, disrupting global market
Gallon of gas up almost 50 cents since Russia invaded Ukraine
Democrats are equally frustrated with Biden administration on Russian oil ban: Panel
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace and former Council of Economic Advisers chairman Tomas Philipson weigh in on solutions to surging gas prices on 'The Evening Edit.'
The U.S. national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline notched $4.065 Monday as supply disruptions continue to drive up oil prices to new highs, according to AAA.
"Supply disruptions are getting worse as oil traders, vessel owners, governments, ports, and dock workers do not want to touch anything related to Russia," Lipow Oil Associates President Andy Lipow told FOX Business, commenting on the escalating war in Ukraine.
Gas is now a nickel shy of an all-time high of $4.11 per gallon reached in July 2008.
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Oil surged to a 13-year high Sunday as U.S. officials discussed the possibility of banning Russian oil imports in retaliation of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UGA | UNITED STATES GASOLINE FUND - USD ACC | 60.18 | -0.11 | -0.18% |
To quell these rising prices, though, "the quickest thing that the government can do to ease the pain is to suspend the 18-cent-per-gallon federal excise tax on gasoline and the 24 cent per gallon federal excise tax on diesel fuel," Lipow added.
Although it won't stop the price increases, "it will offset some of it," he said.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USO | UNITED STATES OIL FUND - USD ACC | 71.04 | -0.57 | -0.80% |
| BNO | UNITED STATES BRENT OIL FUND - USD ACC | 28.77 | -0.23 | -0.79% |
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have been ramping up pressure on the Biden administration to ban all Russian oil and gas imports, but the administration has said it wouldn't be possible without creating an even bigger hike in gas prices at home.
During his State of the Union last week, President Biden announced the U.S. is releasing 30 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to protect consumers from the rising prices, but the average continued to climb.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday the U.S. is now considering a ban on Russian oil, but that it will be "in coordination" with European and NATO allies.
"The actions we’ve taken to date have already had a devastating impact on the Russian economy," he said on NBC. "We’ve seen the ruble in free fall. We see the economy heading into a deep recession. We’ve already had a major impact, but we are looking, again, as we speak, in coordination with allies and partners at this prospect of banning oil imports."
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Critics have accused the Biden administration of funding Putin’s war on Ukraine by relying on Russian oil while also cutting down domestic oil production.
"President Biden should immediately reverse his devastating policies that are causing gas prices to skyrocket and are giving Putin leverage against the rest of the world and return to the policies that were working under President Trump to create American energy dominance with gas prices below $2 a gallon," House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told Fox News Digital. "Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical Green New Deal agenda will be a major issue in November’s elections."
FOX News' Paul Best contributed to this report, which was originally published March 6, 2022, and has been updated.