You’ve heard all the talking points as to why gas prices are so high.

One argument is that oil companies are not putting forth enough effort to drill for more domestic oil in light of a lack of being able to import it because of sanctions on Russia. Another argument is the strict regulations that the Biden White House has put on oil companies.

Then there is the argument that the war between Russia and Ukraine is to blame.

Ball State economics professor Mike Hicks says all of the above are true to some degree. First, he says war always exacerbates everything, especially if it’s a war involving an oil-producing country such as Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and of course Russia.

In the first aforementioned argument, Hicks said right now is a “profit opportunity” for American oil companies to take advantage of European dependence on Russian energy. Economic sanctions placed on Russia by the EU are causing huge price increases on energy in European countries, especially Germany.

“This is a commodity market, so if the price goes up in Germany, which is very dependent on Russian oil, it’s going to come back to us,” Hicks said to Indy Politics. “Much of Europe is dependent on Russian fuel in a way that, nobody in Indiana is buying Russian fuel, but it affects our prices because it means our folks are pumping trying to get oil to markets in Europe.”

But, Hicks does acknowledge that the federal government is taxing oil companies in the United States a lot to the point it can be difficult for them to keep up with such demand.

Hicks adds oil companies are moving as quickly as they can to get more pumps online to get more oil in the market.

“Over the long run (the war in Ukraine) is a profit opportunity for an awful lot of producers in the U.S. who are moving quickly to get pumps moving again,” he said. “But, ‘quickly’ in pumping petroleum is several weeks to months.”

With the U.S. still grappling with a slight labor shortage, Hicks said it takes time for oil companies to get the necessary manpower to where they need to be to tap new wells and get pumps working.

Overall, he calls all the back and forth over the cause of high gas prices simply “talky talk.”