2022 Russian Oil Ban and Gas Price Surge

About

2022 Russian Oil Ban and Gas Price Surge refers to sanctions and bans levied by the United States and Europe regarding oil and gasoline trade with Russia during the 2021-2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict that led to a drastic increase in the price of gas in the Western world. The sanctions were issued by U.S. President Joe Biden, who many online blamed for the increase in gas prices, wherein some states like California it was over $7 a gallon in March 2022. Awareness about the gas shortage manifested in gas prices memes across social media platforms, compounded by America's total ban on the import of Russian oil on March 8th.

Background

On February 21st, 2022, the conflict in Ukraine escalated when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine's eastern front into the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.^[1] In response, on February 23rd, U.S. President Joe Biden issued sanctions on Russia.^[2] He was quoted saying in his statement, "That means we cut off Russia's government from western financing." The United Kingdom also issued sanctions on Russia, relayed to the people by Barbara Woodward, the permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the UN.^[3] All of these aforementioned sanctions, however, did not include oil.

March 2022 U.S. Ban On Russian Oil

In early March 2022, gas prices in the United States reached an all-time high of $4.104 per gallon, being the highest price for gasoline since the 2008 Financial Crisis.^[4] This followed the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinting at talks being made within the government of putting a ban on Russian oil imports, something that the Biden administration had been hesitant about (the U.S. received 3.5 percent of its oil from Russia at the time). The ban, if enacted, would be more symbolic than detrimental. In contrast, the EU received 27 percent of its crude oil from Russia.

On March 8th, 2022, President Biden held a press conference in the White House where he put into effect a ban on Russian oil imports. He was quoted saying, "Today I'm announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia's economy … The American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine." A video of the announcement was posted to Twitter by the account of CBS News, who received roughly 1,000 likes in less than an hour (shown below).

Online Reactions

Reactions online regarding high gas prices started appearing in late February 2022 soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Many users on Twitter took the opportunity to compare the current gas prices under Biden's administration to the ones under former President Donald Trump's administration. For instance, on February 19th, the Twitter^[5] account ACTforAmerica tweeted, "RETWEET if you miss President Trump’s gas prices," earning roughly 1,700 likes in one month (shown below, left). On February 22nd, Twitter^[6] user politicalelle also tweeted about the high gas prices, linking them to Biden and receiving roughly 7,400 likes in two weeks (shown below, right).

Tweets And Memes About High Gas Prices

Starting in late February and going into early March 2022, Twitter users started posting humorous tweets about the rising price of gasoline. Some related the rise to the recent lifting of mask mandates regarding the COVID-19 pandemic that was starting to dissipate as a concern within the general public. As an example of this correlation, on February 27th, Twitter^[7] user kidversations_ posted a tweet that received roughly 21,200 likes in 10 days (shown below, left). Also on February 27th, Twitter^[8] user Ron_Christian55 posted a meme that used the Wolverine Crush template, earning over 170 likes in 10 days (shown below, right).

Tweets about high gas prices started getting more engagement going into early March. For instance, on March 5th, 2022, Twitter^[9] user the_chaparrin tweeted, "Y’all talking bout gas prices like y’all ain’t at the club spending $300 on a $50 bottle 😂😂," earning roughly 11,400 likes in three days (shown below, left). On March 8th, following President Biden's official ban of Russian oil imports, Twitter^[10] user CaucasianJames tweeted a photo of his feet, humorously insisting that they don't need gas and earning roughly 7,400 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

Starting most notably in March 2022, memes about high gas prices started appearing within Reddit's largest subreddits. For instance, on March 8th, Redditor ADAMWARLOCK707 posted a gas prices meme to /r/Memes^[11] that earned roughly 8,000 upvotes in less than a day (shown below, left). Also on March 8th, Redditor i-love-vinegar posted a meme to /r/Memes^[12] using the You'll Never Understand My Pain template, earning roughly 13,700 upvotes in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

In March 2022, notable Instagram meme pages posted content about the rise in gas prices following the Russian oil ban. For instance, Instagram^[13] page shitheadsteve posted a meme on the 8th that compared gas prices in California, which were over $6 a gallon, to the gas prices seen in the movie I Am Legend. The meme (shown below, left) received roughly 162,900 likes in less than 24 hours. Also on March 8th, the conservative-leaning Instagram^[14] account the_typical_liberal posted a meme that captioned an image of Pete Buttigieg. The meme brought attention to a growing concern within conservative-minded circles that Democrat leaders in America were going to use the ban to push renewable energy and make gasoline obsolete. The meme (shown below, right) received roughly 55,300 likes in less than 24 hours.

Memes regarding gas prices also appeared on TikTok going into March. For instance, on March 4th, TikToker^[15] youngseven07 posted a video that received roughly 2.2 million plays and 276,100 likes over the course of four days (shown below, left). On March 5th, TikToker^[16] theshowlorios posted a video that earned roughly 2.4 million plays and 222,100 likes in three days (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References