Ya know, it's probably a little simplistic just to look at the profits of the oil industry and assume that they are gouging. There are a lot of variables that don't get discussed. For one, there hasn't been a new refinery built in what, 30 years. Out of the existing refineries, they have to retrofit them to manufacture whatever special blend is required for a specific city or area, and producing all those special blends takes time. So, as the refineries age, and have problems as they age, there is no new refinery to take up the slack. This causes the a drop in supply. If the supply goes down, and demand remains the same, price goes up. It doesn't mean that it cost the oil company any more to refine the oil, but there is still less of it to go around. Therefore, the oil company makes a profit.
If you want to see real gouging, check out this link
http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statistics/gas_taxes_by_state_2002.html
These guys don't have to produce anything to get your money. They just tell you they are taking it, and it's gone. Congress should have a joint session on that.
I do have to add a little levity though. So, with gasonline, you have to research where to drill for it. You have to drill for it and pipe it to a container ship or pipeline. You have to refine it to gasoline. You have to blend it to whatever enviromental standard exists in the ultimate destination. You have to truck it to the destination. In Illinois, you pay 50 cents in taxes per gallon on it, and it comes up to about $2.10 a gallon(today).
Water is the most plentiful, and easy to find resource on the planet. It literally falls out of the sky. People pay $1.50 for a pint of water in the gas station, and bitch about the $2.10 they payed for a gallon of gas.
