: $8 a gallon gas? Brace for higher oil prices as Russia escalates Ukraine conflict, RBC energy guru says

American consumers may have gotten a bit of a break from sky-high gas prices over the past few months as the prices for oil and natural gas in the U.S. have eased off their peaks from earlier this year.

But any U.S. consumers who think $5-a-gallon gasoline is a thing of the past might want to listen to what Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, has to say.

During a panel entitled $8 a Gallon Gas?, Croft told MarketWatch editor in chief Mark DeCambre that she believes global oil and natural gas prices could surge later this year as Russia escalates the conflict in Ukraine while Western sanctions take full effect.

We should be bracing for an escalation, Croft said in response to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putins decision to announce a partial mobilization of reservists on Wednesday the latest sign that Russia is escalating the conflict in Ukraine following its most recent military setbacks.

The escalation was accompanied by another round of nuclear saber-rattling.

See: Markets ignore Putins nuclear saber-rattling. Why that might change.