For Ukraine, the year since Russia’s invasion has been one of widespread death, destruction and displacement, as millions had their lives changed forever. Americans got off easy by comparison, with most feeling the impact of the war only at the gas pump.
For Ukraine, the year since Russia’s invasion has been one of widespread death, destruction and displacement, as millions had their lives changed forever. Americans got off easy by comparison, with most feeling the impact of the war only at the gas pump.
But the effect on Americans was far less than it was across Europe, where energy prices for driving and heating climbed much higher. Still, Americans have paid a price for the war, and for the sanctions that the United States and its allies imposed upon Russia after its invasion.
Since Russia is one of the world’s major oil exporters, the sanctions riled global energy markets, where the price of oil is set.
US gas prices shot up $1.48 a gallon, or 42%, to a record $5.02 between the day before Russia’s invasion a year ago and the record price reached on June 14.
That peak was short-lived — the national average price of gasoline, as tracked by OPIS for AAA, fell continually for 98 straight days starting right after that record was reached in June until September 20. On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the invasion, the national average stood at $3.39 a gallon, compared to $3.54 on the day the war started.
But even with the steady decline since that June record high, US drivers spent $528 billion on gasoline last year, up $120 billion from what they spent in 2021, according to OPIS. That works out to about $900 more per US household.
Last year’s total is nearly double the amount spent on gasoline in 2020, when stay-at-home orders and massive job losses in the pandemic’s early months crashed demand for gasoline and sent prices plunging. Even compared to pre-pandemic 2019, the amount spent on gas last year jumped $156 billion, or $1,200 per household on average.
Why prices shot up, then fell
A number of factors have coincided to bring prices steadily lower since then.
