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Don't know about where you're at, but here the common opinion is that it's a political scam.  It went up another .13 yesterday.  Now sitting at $2.439 per gallon.  Personally, I think that's $1.20 too much.

Interesting comment CJ.
There are a lot of complaints in the UK as well. Ummm, hit 90pence a litre of something.
If I could be bothered to do the calculation though, works out something stupidly expensive in terms of dollars to the gallon.

Anyway, you think it should be cheaper?
Some thoughts you might be interesting in ()

This is quite interesting to listen to as well ().

I agree with you that it's a "Political Scam"... but my opinion is that we are all in big trouble! because demand will soon far outstrip supply resulting in global recession.

Am I right when I say that the oil global price always goes up, but the taxes percentage never goes down? (of course it represents more money for the governments)

And oil companies are making more and more money ( for example Total earned +45% in the last six months) !

The rise seems to be good for producers/companies/governments ... but not for consumers all around the world

I can't speak for other european countries, but if the price of oil got really higher (and it will), then in the UK it would be possible to reduce the tax, to allow people to still be able to buy some petrol/gasoline. If Gordan Brown (of whoever is Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK at the time) didn't do that, there would be fuel riots like we had in September 2000.

Some people think that the Oil Companies are fully aware that there is limited oil left, and we've found all the major reserves. Therefore, the reason why are making big profits is because they are no longer pumping money earned from the oil they've already sold, back into the business by investing in new refining equipment and further geological surveys. Whats the point of wasting that money when there's nothing left to find, and extraction rates globally MAY start falling within the next 2 years? (The USGS says extraction rates will fall in 2037 onwards. I say that is a load of bull****).
In short, the oil bosses know that perhaps things will start going bad soon, and and making lots of money now to try and make themselves comfortable in the future.

Here in the US the fuel taxes are not a floating percentage.  Here in Colorado it's 28 cents per gallon.

I've seen on the news this morning that they're about to modify the oil tax system in France (good news for the consumers here). At the moment the french government takes advantage of the price raise and people are really angry!

If there's no more oil left in few years, or if it becomes too expensive, which energy will we use? Will governements improve public transportation?

It jumpes .24 cents in the past 48 hours.  Back when I wa a kid if it did that people would be out in the streets protesting it.  Now, they don't care.  Just goes to show that America's got a serious problem.

Julien.
There will be oil for a good few decades yet. It will just become VERY expensive.
There is a school of thought that by the time the majority of people and government react to 'peak oil', it will already be too late. Cheap oil effectively feeds the world economy, and expensive oil (in ever dwindling amounts) would mean that it would  be difficult to research alternatives because
a) World Economy contracts, resulting in less money to invest in research for alternatives
b) Lack of energy to actually 'fuel' the research and construction of replacement technologies.
You ask, what energy can we use. Well, theirs always Solar, Wind etc. These are pretty good for localised energy production for the home etc. Could also be used (in a large scale) for powering public transport (trains). However, these alternatives are not advanced enought yet to get anywhere near supplying the same kind of power, if ever. Nuclear (Fission) could... if it weren't for two issues
a) Public fears over nuclear
b) Relies on Uranium, which itself is running out. Uranium prices have been going up in Australia because of increased demand.
Nuclear Fusion, if we ever get it working would certainly be useful, and would solve a lot of problems. BUT, that's going to be 20 years away.

The basic problem is this. Oil (the easy to find type that's rapidly running out), provides huge amounts of energy compared to how much energy is used to extract it and process. There is NOTHING that can compare with it. This is a fundamental problem, because today's society finds it difficult to accept that we may need to live in a world with lower energy requirements.

Cactus Jack
That's a pretty big increase. Was reading in the UK that in January this year, fuel cost 76p per litre. Now it's 95p per litre. When I lived in the UK, I never saw increases like that.
However, your comment that 'people would be protesting' is interesting. Protesting what?
a) "We demand cheap oil. It's a fundamental right". My response, who gave you (people in general) this 'right'.
b) "We demand that this problem be solved." My response. In what way? My investing now in changing the transport system in the US so their is less relience on cars. Actually, this needs to occur in over countries too. I can't understand why the Chinese are pushing more for personal car ownership, when they could invest more in public transport.

Talking of fuel protests, I've heard talk that something could happen in the UK.

Gavin, back when I was a teenager and I got my first car, I was laughed at and even kicked out of several car dealerships when I told them I wanted an electric car.  This hybred crap the manufacturers have now were possible 20+ years ago.  I'm getting rid of my Bronco and picking up a truck in a month or so.  You know, I can deal with 500# of batteries.  But the cost is prohibitive.  I would prefer an electric vehicle myself.  How often do you run out of gas?  Very rarely.  Maybe your small 2 or 4 cycle 2.5 hp motor that runs the genny would.  I have a small solar cell that feeds juice into my battery, and that helps a lot really. 

A lot of improvements we can make, but the big boys in the opil industry don't like that any.  That's ok.  We still need oil and coal for the by products.  Nylon comes from both coal tar and oil.  Literal;ly 98% of all plastics come from coal tar and/or oil.  We need oil no doubt.  But we need to make a lot of changes.  We won't run out, that is impossible.  Because oil is always being made by nature.  But it's getting harder to pull out of the ground.

When I gave you those prices, our regular unleaded was going for $1.309 USD per gallon.  It jumped up to $1.549 USD per gallon.

When the rest of the world pays much more for gas, why should Americans still believe that they can fill up for nothing?
Just a questionÂ…

As a European expatriate in the U.S., I have been often shocked by the fact that a large group (not all of them, of course!) of Americans practically believe that cheap gas is a constitutional right, or it should be. 
The ever-increasing size of cars, trucks, SUV’s, and the large abuse of these types of vehicles for the wrong purposes – fun, status, etc. instead of necessity – coupled with the fact that many American car manufacturers have not even considered until recently producing fuel-efficient vehicles make me want to scream. (I am not even mentioning those 5 miles per gallon gigantic tin boxes called RV’s that a certain blue-haired generation loves to drive. It's obscene.)
Personally, the price can get bumped up another dollar, I donÂ’t mind (I drive a mid-size fuel-efficient foreign sedan).  I think that there is a higher price to pay for what we do to the environment, and for our selfishness (wrongfully labeled "independence") and carelessness in general.

Will we run out or not? Really, it's the wrong question. The question is about how responsible and smart we should be right now about it and develop alternatives (some of which have existed already for a long time.) The problem is that they don't serve the interests of a little cowboy in the White House.

PS: cactus, this "hybrid crap" works very well (at least the Japanese one, which I know.)

Marianna, that hybred crap may work well, but it wa available back 20 years ago.  I'd love to have one now, but right now I can't afford one. 

Gas just went up another .10 today to $2.649.  IIRC that's nearly $1 USD over last years price.

Given all our petrol stations were fully loaded with petrol, it struck me as very odd the prices took a steep hike up with 24 hours " because of Katrina and oil shortages and proces per barrel ..blah, blah." How could the petrol being stored here at the time suddenly get such a price hike when it was bought at the previous price? The magic of the modern economy truly escapes me.