Ancillary 9
The topic that I would like to discuss in my WP 4 is the effect on oil prices that the Russia/Ukraine conflict has caused to the world. The conflict in Ukraine has caused sanctions to be placed on the Russians limiting their exports and destroying their economy. This being said, oil is one of the key exports of Russia, but is not just a shot to the Russian economy but to Europe as a whole. Multiple European countries relied on agreements with Russian oil companies to supply their country with a source of fuel for their gas stations and factories. With the sanctions placed on Russia this oil is no longer available for the consumption of those countries. With the absence of the bulk of oil in Europe, the European people are feeling the effects heavily as their gas prices started to rise exponentially. Now this is not just gas for cars but rather gas for their homes and energy. Countries like the Netherlands and Germany are feeling this especially where people are paying 500 euros per month just to supply energy to their homes. With Germany especially in a bad situation where they already cut their option of nuclear power and decided to carry out the agreement with Russia to make a pipe line from Germany to Russia. So what can be done about this predicament in Europe? Well due to climate concerns around the globe other major producers of oil are limiting the amount that they are able to produce. For example the United States is sitting on large amounts of oil that is already taken out of the ground but is just being held in storage instead of being used to combat rising prices in Europe as well as in the United States.