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<\/a><\/p>\nSecond, the U.S. \u2013 even with the highest crude oil production rates in the past months \u2013 still consumes more oil than it produces domestically, at more than 20 million barrels per day<\/a>. Moreover, not all domestically produced oil is suitable for refining at the U.S. refineries designed to run optimally on heavier crudes \u2013 crudes that the U.S. is not producing much of and still has to import.<\/p>\n In other words, despite being the biggest oil producer by a mile, the United States still depends on crude oil sold at international market prices, and when they soar, gasoline prices do, too.<\/p>\n Crude Price Makes More than Half of U.S. Gasoline Price<\/p>\n As of January 2026, when the average retail price of gasoline was $2.81 per gallon, the price of crude oil made up 51%<\/a> of the price Americans pay per gallon, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The weight of the crude oil price is the same in March, but with crude prices up by 30%, it is inevitable that the price of a gallon of gasoline is now more than $1 higher compared to before the Iran war.<\/p>\n Related: This Ohio Factory is Trump\u2019s Secret Weapon in the Rare Earth War<\/a><\/p>\n The U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude<\/a>, has jumped from about $67 per barrel before the first U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 27, to as much as $99 a barrel as of early on Monday. The international benchmark Brent Crude<\/a> has surged even more, and traded early on Monday at $112 per barrel, up from $73 per barrel just before the war started.<\/p>\n Taxes account for 18% of the price of a gallon of gasoline, so even if the state and federal governments look to lower these taxes, the impact on gasoline prices would be much smaller than the impact from soaring crude oil prices.<\/p>\n One month ago, the U.S. national average price of gasoline was $2.929 per gallon.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s over $3.90 and on track to hit the $4\/gal mark within hours. And that\u2019s overwhelmingly due to the soaring crude oil prices as the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> \u2013 the world\u2019s most vital oil chokepoint \u2013 remains closed and effectively sidelines more than 15% of global petroleum deliveries. This, in turn, hikes the price<\/a> of every available barrel of sour crude that\u2019s not stuck in the Middle East.<\/p>\n As a result, just 0.7% of stations were offering gasoline below $3\/gal on Sunday, according to GasBuddy data<\/a>. This compares to 78% of stations offering below $3\/gal gasoline three weeks ago. The national average at $3.94\/gal as of Sunday is likely to go above $4 in less than 48 hours, says Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.<\/p>\n Not All Crude Is Equal<\/p>\n While the U.S. is a net petroleum exporter, it still\u00a0needs to import<\/a>\u00a0heavier crude grades because refineries cannot run only on the lighter crudes from the domestic shale fields. Crude imports account for about three-quarters of U.S. total gross petroleum imports, according to EIA data.<\/p>\n Nearly 70% of all U.S. refining capacity runs most efficiently with heavier crude. That is why 90% of crude oil imports into the United States are heavier than U.S.-produced shale crude, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) trade association\u00a0says<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even if the U.S. is the world\u2019s biggest crude oil producer, its refining markets and fuel prices are not an island and depend on the global price of crude, which has surged since the war in Iran started.<\/p>\n By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com<\/p>\n