Sorry for the previous thread, hopefully it is appropriate here...
This is a pretty logical assumption, but I had an interesting conversation with friend who works as a regional manager for BP. I asked when he thought gas prices would be going back down. He laughed at me and said "The US has been selling and producing oil and gas cheaper than any other country for the past 15 years. As much as I hate to say it, we're still way under-price, and have a lot farther to climb."
I asked, "so we'll (as in the city of Houston) see 4 bucks a gallon this summer for sure?", and he said, "yeah, within 2 months, and we probably won't level off until the US avg. is around $6/gallon."
He went on to explain that the only reason our gas has been so cheap is b/c we use so much more per capita than anyone else. But now, China and India have a much larger middle class (i.e. starting to consume more of EVERYTHING), so we have to make supply room for them, and at a more realistic price.
My friend is a higher up guy with the company, and spends like half his time in London and half in Houston.
With the US already draining its own blood by sending blank checks to Iraq, we're stretched as far as we can get at current gas prices.
What are your thoughts?