While oil prices are tumbling, prices at the pump are not, and it may take several quarters for the divergence to balance out, energy analyst Neal Dingmann said Monday.
U.S. crude has fallen for seven weeks in a row, settling down 1.5 percent at $41.87 a barrel on Monday. Gasoline prices, on the other hand, have increased for six straight days, ending a 27-day streak of daily declines, according to AAA. Gas prices are now up to $2.67 from $2.59 one week ago, it said.
The problem is due, in large part, to the shutdown of a BP refinery in the Midwest. The company's largest crude distillation unit was damaged in a malfunction last week. BP has said it will take at least a month to make the repairs.
"The problem is it takes so long for these refineries and infrastructure to be built out. We haven't had a major refinery built in over 20 years. So to have something like this to balance something like this out, it could still take several quarters," Dingmann, energy analyst for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, said in an interview with CNBC's "Closing Bell."
When it comes to crude, he thinks prices could drop into the $30s near-term. However, he thinks conventional oil supply will "take a hit" the beginning of next year, which will bring prices back up into the $60s.
—Reuters contributed to this report.