The U.S. has about 25 days of oil supply. Is that a crisis?

The pain at the pump is real for most Americans but the chances of the United States running out of gasoline are fairly low.

Why? Because over the past 15 years, the nation has become self-sufficient, relying less on imports for our crude oil — the black gold that comes out of the ground before it is refined into the gasoline that goes into your car.

Still, the war in Iran — which started Feb. 28, prompting Iran to put a stranglehold on crude oil traveling through the Strait of Hormuz — will impact U.S. car owners, car buyers and carmakers, experts said.

Natural gas and diesel — both of which can be produced by refining crude oil — go into almost everything the United States buys or ships and impacts electricity prices, food prices, consumer goods, and industrial production, said Patrick Anderson, CEO of Anderson Economic Group in East Lansing.

Thus, the disruption caused by the war in Iran has caused "a de facto cost increase borne by American consumers," Anderson told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. So far, the increase is small, but it has the potential to grow and escalate consumers' jitters. That means some people might put big purchases, such as cars, on ice.