“It Would Not be a Pretty Picture:” How a Potential Russian Invasion on Ukraine Could Affect You

The world is watching as the Russia-Ukraine crisis continues to devolve by the day.

Today, the Kremlin released a statement saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin will recognize the independence Ukraine breakaway regions - the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic regions in eastern Ukraine.

Today, the leadership of the DPR and LPR received appeals to recognize their sovereignty in connection with the military aggression of the Ukrainian authorities, massive shelling of the territory of Donbas, as a result of which the civilian population suffers. With all this in mind, the President of Russia said that he intended to sign a corresponding decree in the near future...the President of France and the Federal Chancellor of Germany expressed their disappointment with this development.

 

These repeated claims of military aggression have repeatedly been denied by Ukraine, says Fox News.

So, what would the impact on Louisianans be if Russia invaded Ukraine?

"It would not be a pretty picture," said Eric Smith, Associate Director of the Tulane Energy Institute to Louisiana Radio Network. “I think the first thing you would see is a spike in both oil and gas prices, in our case that would be ONG prices, mostly because of the inability to completely replace the gas lost to Europe."

Prices on the oil and gas markets have been increased to levels that have not been seen in years as tensions have escalated.

And, with the efforts by the Biden Adminstration to avoid the conflict not currently working, the President has been been trying to find ways to meet an expected increased demand for gas.

“You’ve seen President Biden running around the world talking to the Japanese and saying 'Would you be willing to divert some of the supplies that we were planning to send to you to Europe in an emergency',” Smith added to LRN.

As LRN points out, European markets rely heavily on Russian oil. With a Russian invasion, supplies would expectedly be disrupted as demand would continue to increase, which could expectedly hurt China and Asia as well.

Louisiana may not be a large exporter of oil but the state would be hurt by the price spikes

“Those imported, specifically the heavy solid crudes that we need, would be affected as well. Shipping would be disrupted," said Smith to LRN.

One possible silver lining in all of this, points out LRN, is the potential for increased production. January contained a first for the U.S.: more natural gas was shipped to Europe than the amount provided through Russian pipelines.