If this keeps up, storage tanks could approach their operational limits, known in the industry as "tank tops," by mid-April and send the price of crude — and probably gasoline, too — plummeting. At that rock-bottom price, oil companies, faced with mounting losses, would stop pumping oil until the glut eased. Gasoline prices would fall along with crude, though lower refinery production, because of seasonal factors and unexpected outages, could prevent a sharp decline. Oil companies can't just get rid of it by sending it abroad, because crude exports are restricted by federal law. New storage is under construction at Cushing, and there are large storage terminals near Houston, in St.