The United States is the world's largest oil producer, so why isn't gas cheaper at the pump here?
"It's a global supply and demand market, so it doesn't have local demand aspects," meaning all oil goes on the world markets because that's where it draws the most profits, according to Karry Ingham, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.
Very little oil is diverted for local use, most of it within companies.
He says it's been that way forever, but "what hasn't been the case forever is the big volume of crude oil that the US is producing."
"The US is the single largest producer of crude oil in the world."
Back around 2010 when shale oil became part of a huge trend toward more technology in oil and gas production, Texas and later New Mexico began producing so much oil that the two states started over a period of years to lead the world not only in production but in production techniques.
That's why Texas huge oil turnout today helps shield the rest of the world, especially the United States, from oil prices that might be unaffordable today if not for the big production of West Texas and now New Mexico.
"US crude oil producers led by Texas is in fact shielding them from much, much worse market events, a much worse price scenario than would be the case if our production were much lower," he adds.