The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline surged past $4.50 in May. That’s up $1.63 per gallon since early February – before the United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran and Iran responded by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for Middle Eastern oil.

The hike in gas prices, already the steepest in decades, is costing the typical American household an extra $100 per month.

Pain at the pump has many Americans asking why events on the other side of the world are having such a significant impact here. After all, the United States recently became the world’s largest oil producer and a net exporter, meaning we produce more oil than we consume.

Why can’t we just disconnect from the global oil market and exclusively use American oil?

Severing our ties to the world market would be neither practical nor desirable, and would likely come with some painful unintended consequences.

Going it alone on gas prices sounds simple, but ...

Let’s start with the practical aspects.

The United States is connected to the global oil market through trade. We export and import massive amounts of crude oil and refined products like gasoline and diesel.

We do this primarily because not all oil is the same. The fracking........

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