If crude oil was $200.00 a barrel, gasoline prices in the United States would be an average cost of $6.00 per gallon to $7.50 per gallon, nationally with states such as California could potentially see prices climb well above $8.00 a gallon.
Crude oil also accounts for around %50 to 60% of the final costs of a gallon of gasoline at the pump and every $1.00 increase in a barrel of crude oil traditionally raises retail gas prices by around 2.4 to 2.5 cents per gallon.
If crude oil is $150.00 a barrel, the United States, retail gasoline prices would be between $4.75 per gallon to $5.50 per gallon nationally.
Although in heavy tax states such as California, if crude oil is $150.00 a barrel, then places like California could see the gasoline prices climb to as much as $6.50 per gallon to even $7.00 per gallon.
Crude oil also accounts for around 50% to 60% of the total cost of a gallon of gasoline that is sold and purchased.
The remaining cost of gasoline is also made up of refining costs, distribution costs, marketing costs and federal and state taxes.
Historically, an increase of $10.00 in a barrel of crude oil would translate to around a 20 to 25 cent increase in cost of gasoline at the pump.
And moving from the current baseline oil prices up to a flat $150.00 a barrel of crude oil also represents a substantial surge, which pushes wholesale gasoline costs significantly higher.
Regions such as California, traditionally add higher environmental fees, specific blend mandates as well as steep state excise taxes, which means $150.00 crude oil per barrel, would disproportionately push the local pump prices for gasoline in these areas well past the $6.50 + per gallon mark.