The growing conflict in the Middle East is fast causing an international energy crisis with the potential to ripple through global economies.

"If you have some kind of, you know, conflict or geopolitical disturbance in one part of the world, that is like throwing a rock in a pond. And the effects just ripple all the way through the global oil market," said Seth Blumsack, Professor of Energy Policy and Economics at Penn State University.

The problem right now is transporting oil out of the Middle East, according to the director of the International Energy Agency:

"There is no shortage of oil globally. The issue is the dislocation," said IEA's Faith Birol.

That's largely because of a near standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20% of the world's oil supply passes through daily.

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Since the start of the war, Iran has attacked several ships in the strait and threatened tankers that try to pass through it, effectively closing it off.

The U.S. only gets a fraction of its oil from the Middle East, but that doesn't mean Americans won't feel the impact of price shocks.

"This is a war that impacts the entire world and the U.S. isn't completely immune for it, said Amena Bakr, Head of Middle East & OPEC+ Insights at Kpler.

That's because oil is priced on a global market.

Americans are already seeing that at the pump, where the price of a gallon of gas is up more than 30 cents from a week ago, according to AAA.

But it could also ripple through other areas dependent on natural gas and oil, says supply chain management professor Sequin Ozkul.

"We're going to be seeing definitely some huge impacts. Fertilizers may impact food prices. Petrochemicals are going to impact eventually consumer goods, plastic, packaging. So all of this has some ripple effects," Ozkul said.