Here's something to look at.
Gas prices are going up for about a million and a half reasons.
West Africa is a huge producer of oil, unfortunately they're having some issues with civil unrest. Norway is having problems with machenery and workers are striking. India and China are demanding more oil as well. A hurricane took out a lot of offshore platforms. There are several other reasons.
Here's a good link to more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_price_increases_of_2004_and_2005