There is a speculative bubble in oil right now and it will continue for a while. What little change taxes may have had on the price of oil are easily overshadowed by this bubble. Supplies are higher, demand is down and prices are spiking? I dont mean at the pump where switches from winter to summer blends may have a few % influence, I mean the wall street market where oil is priced.
The companies will scream bloody murder over it and Bush will make retarded predictions about it that are scary but he is so far behind the curve I really question how he got an MBA. But in the end the dust will clear, and nothing will have changed cept the Federal gov will just spend another 14billion and the oil companies will keep going on making record profits until this bubble goes pop.

It kinda seems that the bubbles are going more and more to the markets that have very steep demand curves. Huge swings in prices affect demand for gas very little. Our population growth easly outpaces this change. It started in Tech stocks which have very gradual demand curves, they are not necessities. Then to housing, which is much steeper but has alternatives (rent, move, downsize), now to oil which has very few viable alternatives right now. In the long run itll be good because itll make alternatives viable, but it hurts now. The next ones are in Food and healthcare, which have no alternatives. Corn and wheat are the base of modern societies and prayer sessions are not viable alternatives to a regular checkup.