Bottom line, there are more people that want the world's fuel then there is currently fuel available to give them.
Two decades ago when gas prices were cheap here in America, we were not competing against the rapidly emerging and gigantic economies of China and India.
These two nations alone are rapidly expanding and growing with enormous populations of people, and thus the energy needs involved in that expansion are tremendous. That need creates enormous demand from the world's limited supply, thus driving up prices.
Had we here in America been taking advantage of the vast oil resources right here in our own back yard over the past few decades, by both drilling for it and refining it, we would have a far greater advantage, a much stronger weapon with which to fight this volatility.
