Rising Oil Prices Could Actually Affect Thousands Of Other Products

Gas prices around the country have shot up over the past couple weeks. Many people are feeling sticker shock at the pump due to the rising costs of fuel; however, even if you own an electric car, you’re not going to be immune from the impact of rising fuel prices.

Most products that we buy have to be transported to stores and our homes via trucks, trains, and delivery vehicles. These vehicles all need fuel, and with fuel costs increasing, that will also impact shipping costs.

Beyond the cost of fuel for vehicles, you can also expect to see the prices of many everyday products increase due to fact that they contain petroleum. You may not have thought about it before, but plastic contains petroleum. Stop and think for a minute about how many things you own that are plastic. Don’t forget to include plastic packaging, like plastic bottles for shampoo and plastic cases for food.

Stewart Glickman, an energy equity analyst at CFRA Research, told NBC News, “A lot of plastics are made with polypropylene or polyethylene, and the basic building blocks of those are propane and ethane.”

Watch the video below to hear more examples of ordinary products that contain petroleum, plus, learn some helpful advice about how to save money despite the rising costs.

The products listed in the video are far from the only ones that are impacted by rising petroleum prices. Like in the example at the bicycle store, petroleum is in so many more products that you probably ever realized. For example, anything made with vegan leather contains petroleum. Microfiber fleece and synthetic fabrics contain petroleum as well.

While it’s more expensive to fill up your car at the gas station, if you’re planning on shopping for a new car, expect car prices to be high too. Many car parts contain petroleum including the tires, the foam in the seats, and any parts made out of plastic.

Thankfully, we don’t buy a new car, TV, or a vegan leather handbag nearly as often as we get gas, so these prices increases won’t be as noticeable, at least not right away. However, if you’re planning on buying any of these products in the near future, it might be a good idea to go shopping for them before the prices go up.