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Chris, it's not so bad. It might make you feel better that we are still paying $3.19 and happy about it since it has been hovering in the $3.40 range for a while now. I think it can only get better….or not.

well, i live in germany..
we pay 1,30EUR per liter, thats 1,57$
1gallon would cost about 6,30$

i live in austria:
update: now its at 1,40€ (5,30€ per gallon-about 6,90$) – thats about 25cent more in only one week..
its quite hard but it helps reducing the co2 emission.. and those hurricanes are not the only effect that have their origin in the shameless usage of fossil power by many industrial countries…
just my 2ct

That really sucks for you all in Australia and Germany. How can you all afford to even drive? In Waco, Texas, I know once mine hit $3.00 a gallon I stopped driving, just rode my bike. Now it's down to $2.68 thankfully. I doubt we will ever see gas below $2.00 a gallon again :(

That post was from Austria, not Australia.
But anyway… I'm in Australia (central Victoria) and today we're paying AU$1.33 per litre, which works out to US$3.79 per gallon.

On my way to work Friday in Wichita, KS, the Conoco station is $2.03/gal. Annoyed me to have paid $2.08 the night before…. :-)

1) Exxon just reported record profits
2) Euro consumers generally pay about the same as US consumers for the fuel itself, but the tax rates are VASTLY more in Europe
3) Less than half of the US oil consumption is in the form of plain old gasoline
What can we learn from all of this? Well, our government isn't as much of a problem as we'd all love to believe when it comes to gas prices, and if we truly want “fair” prices, the government WILL have to step in and tightly regulate the oil industry, and that's just asking for trouble on a global scale. It's mostly an open market and Exxon's profits reported last week prove that beyond any doubt, given the recent events that would seemingly have cut into those numbers.
Also, all of the SUV driving still doesn't push the overall oil usage up much. The largest portion of oil use is for things other than plain old car gasoline. It's in diesel, fuel oils, airline fuel, etc. If you could wave a wand and make non-needed SUVs into Hybrids, you'd maybe knock 5% off of the total daily consumption… maybe… and that would just be gasoline, so it would reduce actual oil consumption by about 2%. I assure you that Exxon will make their money regardless, so production would be cut and prices left alone.
Consumption actually went up quite a bit when the fear of higher prices set in, and the suppliers were all too happy to respond to the demand, followed by a temporary drop in use due to sticker-shock. We all caused the higher prices because pretty much everyone stocked up on fuel, then reduced usage shortly after. And prices never go down as fast as they go up. It was a dream scenario for the oil companies, and they have the general consumer to thank for it all.
I remember the scoffs I received from friends when I told them gas would be back around or under $2.00 by the end of the year. The major refinery areas were missed by the hurricanes, so it was common sense. A poster above even doubted this two weeks ago. Remember the bubble after 9/11? And that had nothing to do with oil production at all. We all drive gas prices more than we think.