Oil companies no longer set the prices based on the Dollar, which has pretty much gone the way of the mexican peso- looks good but isn't worth much. No, the Euro is the standard used nowadays.
which means that as the dollar loses value, in order to maintain purchasing power, more dollars must be spent.
A big portion of the crunch problem is not the availability of oil, it's the fact that many Americans have consistently not allowed the construction of new refineries, and those based on better technology and capacity. A country can have all the oil in the world, but the bottleneck is getting product through the crackers, and then into the pipe towards the delivery destination of the refined product.
Though a lot of places in the US are already selling $4/gal gasoline, several states are up to $6/gal. and it's likely going to keep going up in price.
Of course, this is the retail price. The wholesale price is quite a bit cheaper, but when a gallon is sold, you have to factor in Federal taxes (37 cents/gal), State tax (17 cents/gal), county or city taxes (70 cents/gal), and the retailer's profit margin (50 cents/gallon) in addition to the wholesale price. The retailer has to make a profit of the company goes out of business. Their overhead includes business license, inspections, equipment upgrades and maintenance, delivery costs, insurance, and other fees.
Note: any of the taxes listed above are variable by locality.
