It's all about the fall of the dollar.

The one thing that no one has mentioned in all this talk about oil prices is the effect of the rather significant managed fall of the dollar by the Bush administration. The retreat of the dollar was touted as policy in an effort to increase the export import ratio, but that doesn't work when the trade balance is as significant as it is. All it accomplishes is to increase the cost of those imports including oil.

If you take a look at the decline of dollar value vs the Euro during the budget deficit, loose money Bush admin, Oil would not be all that expensive.

Have you seen any stories in British, European, or other foreign press complaining about gas prices?

No. That's because this story is about a weak dollar, not about gas prices.

There's a poll out there talking about people's insecurity about all this. Here's a quick link.