King at SCSU Scholars links to news (link appears to have been retired) that Russia, a major exporter of oil, is taxing those exports heavily.The persistently high oil prices reflect a large risk premium (security, change of regime in Saudi Arabia, etc.) interacting with the stubbornly high Chinese demand for oil due to their growing economy. Don't forget that in real terms, the price of a barrel of oil would have to be $90 today to be as high as it was at its highest in the 1970s; today oil is about $66/barrel.
The array of factors influencing gasoline prices is much more complex. First you've got constraints on refining capacity; the last refinery built in the US was in 1976, and refiners have been squeezing more blood out of the stone ever since, but it's increasingly difficult and we're operating very close to capacity. Then add in the demand for other petroleum products, like jet fuel and the build-up of home heating oil for the upcoming winter, and there are a lot of different things competing for the scarce refining capacity. Add to that the season: two weeks before Labor Day, and we're taking driving vacations.
Then there's the regional fuel market balkanization due to the wide range of fuel formulas to meet the federal fuel oxygenate requirement. While the recently-signed energy bill promises to streamline the formulae and reduce the fuel market balkanization, it hasn't kicked in yet, and won't until next spring.
For some perspective on the usefulness of oil in transportation, Phil at Market Power has some reflections on the difficulties of developing steam automobiles (which might also be oil burners.) Sure, one can raise steam by burning a number of fuels, but that has the effect of producing carbon dioxide and a number of annoying combustion byproducts. Visualize eating lunch on a railroad dining car on a hot summer day in the Age of Steam. Do you really want to open the window for some ventilation?
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