The market is a wonderful thing

Try as they might, even a cartel such as OPEC can't repeal the laws of economics. A fat man may as well try to repeal the laws of physics and reduce gravitational pull because he weighs too much.

It's amazing how the price seems to rise during the summer driving/vacation season and drops after Labor Day. Instability in the Middle East and a psychotic running Venezuela don't help matters. Combine all of that with the effective efforts of the environmental lobby at blocking the addition of any new US refining capability in the last 30 years and drastically limiting our exploration for new sources of oil (ANWR, Pacific coastline) and it's little wonder that the price of gas rose as it did this year.