America barely uses OPEC oil. Why are oil and gas prices so high?

The United States is the world's leading oil producer. Of the oil we do import, only 8% comes from the Middle East.

Why, then, have domestic oil and gasoline prices gone through the roof?

Oil prices spiked again on July 13 as renewed military strikes between the United States and Iran reignited concerns over energy shipments through the contested Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures, a market benchmark, were up $2.39, or about 3%, to $78.40.

U.S. gas prices averaged $3.87 a gallon on July 13, more than 70 cents higher than a year ago on this date, according to AAA. Gas prices are elevated at a moment when the ceasefire between Iran and the United States seems to have unraveled.

Why did the Iran war raise gas prices here?

The U.S. produces more than 13 million barrels of crude oil a day, as of January. We export more oil than we import. But we also consume a lot of oil, and we import about 6 million barrels a day. Only a small fraction comes from the Persian Gulf.

Based on those facts, you might think a war in the Middle East would have no bearing on gas prices in the United States. You would be wrong.

"It's a global market," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, speaking to USA TODAY earlier this year. "So, oil literally flows to the highest price. If a tanker can get a higher price in Malaysia than it can in Rotterdam than it can in Rio de Janeiro, it's going to go to Malaysia."

When the United States began airstrikes against Iran, oil prices spiked around the globe.

By one benchmark, the West Texas Intermediate index, crude oil prices rose from about $67 on Feb. 27 to about $105 on March 30.

Oil prices rose because the Iran war crippled supply in the region, between the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the sudden danger in shipping oil and collateral damage to oil-industry infrastructure, among other factors.

War threatened the oil supply to regions that rely heavily on oil from the Middle East, including parts of Asia and Europe. Prices spiraled everywhere, including here.

"Everybody's competing for the same barrel of oil," said James Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, in an interview earlier this year. "It doesn't matter whether it's produced in Texas or Iran or Saudi Arabia or Russia."

The United States is the top oil-producing nation on Earth. But we are also the top oil consumer. And America's oil producers are part of the global market.

"We produce as much as we consume," Zandi said. "But at the end of the day, the producers here are going to sell to whoever can give them the highest prices, as well. They're businesspeople."

The West Coast is particularly vulnerable to oil shocks in the Middle East, because more of its oil comes from that region. That's one reason gas prices have soared to $5.93 a gallon in California, said Kate Gordon, CEO of California Forward, a nonprofit that advocates for sustainability.

"We get nothing from east of the Rockies," she said, speaking to USA TODAY earlier this year.

This was no repeat of the 1970s oil crisis

California and the rest of the nation can take heart that the Iran war didn't seed a gasoline shortage in the United States. There were long lines for gas, yes, but populated mostly by people who wanted to save a few bucks at Costco.

That's a far cry from the oil crisis of the 1970s, which triggered rationing, price controls, shortages, a national 55-mph speed limit and long lines at gas stations across the nation.

For American consumers, economists say, the Iran war delivered more hardship than crisis. Motorists paid more for the gas they purchased. Petroleum companies earned more for the oil they sold.

Some other countries, more reliant on oil from the Middle East, introduced rationing, four-day workweeks and remote work and urged citizens to use less air conditioning and more public transportation.

"You could say the U.S. economy, on net, is somewhat insulated from the shock, because we are such a large supplier," said Nikolai Roussanov, professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, in an interview earlier this year. "But that doesn't help the consumer at the pump."

When will gas prices fall?

Gas prices have seesawed in recent months, and they remained high following news of a fragile ceasefire on April 8. Even if the ceasefire holds, oil and gasoline prices will remain elevated, Cox said, unless some new source comes online.

Oil infrastructure in the Middle East has been damaged or disrupted in the Iran war. Some of it "will take years and years to rebuild," Gordon said. During that time, the world's oil supply will remain pinched.

"There's no going back to what we had," Zandi said. "At least not this year."

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: America barely uses OPEC oil. Why are oil and gas prices so high?

Reporting by Daniel de Visé, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 10:55 AM.