Prices for goods using oil set to skyrocket
(NewsNation) — Record-breaking oil products aren’t just impacting Americans at the pump. Thousands of other products are made using oil, including some that might surprise you.
For every 42-gallon oil barrel, over half of it is used to create non-gasoline products. Some of the products include: plastics like the packaging around goods you order online, lipsticks with the oil being mixed with wax to make it spread across your lips smoother and any medications with a hard shell like Advil.
Soaring prices likely mean you are going to pay more for anything that’s based on the products. According to the Federal Reserve, five of the last seven U.S. recessions were preceded by considerable increases in oil prices.
Prices at the pump were rising long before Russia invaded Ukraine and have spiraled faster since the start of the war. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline has soared in the past week and topped $4.31 Tuesday, according to auto club AAA.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is also heightening a global food crisis, causing a growing list of key producing countries to seek to keep vital food supplies within their borders and prompting food price hikes.
Ukraine’s government last week banned the export of wheat, oats and other staples that are crucial for global food supplies. Russia and Ukraine together supply nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley exports, which have soared in price since the invasion.