NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Americans have been feeling the gas crunch as never before. But how do our prices compare to the cost at the pump overseas where prices are often higher?

"The price of oil is pretty much the same around the world," said Dr. Frederic Murphy of Temple University's Fox School of Business. "The difference between gasoline prices is determined by a country's taxes or inefficient national petroleum monopoly."

Murphy points out that previous oil crunches were precipitated by a devalued U.S. dollar, which oil trades in, and from embargoes. But neither of those events occurred before this one. "This crisis is pure market forces," said Murphy.