The United States – not Iran, Saudi Arabia or any other Persian Gulf country – is the world's top crude oil producer. That may leave some wondering why gas prices here go up when there's a shortage elsewhere in the world, as with the ongoing conflict with Iran.

Gasoline is one of the products created when crude oil is extracted from the ground and refined, along with others like jet fuel, diesel and asphalt.

So when the price of crude oil increases, the cost of producing refined products, like the gas in your vehicle’s tank, increases.

Elasticity in economics describes how responsive the supply of one variable is to its price. For example, the supply of generic manufactured goods, like white T-shirts or plastic phone cases, is highly elastic. If the market price for these items rises, manufacturers can easily increase production by running extra shifts, because the raw materials and labor required are readily available.

However, the supply of oil is "inelastic," meaning that the supply of crude oil production cannot quickly rise in response to high prices. Even though the United States........

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