Moving on down the road...

Our time in Castle Rock and Mt St Helens is at an end and we have to look to the road for our next destination. We had planned to cruise the Oregon coastline, but the rising fuel costs are causing us to rethink our travel routes. Looks like we are going to have to make a beeline for Texas and find a place to weather the fuel storm. 3 months ago when we started the caravan tour, we were shocked at the steep increase of fuel as we headed north. Then the price was around $1.98/gal for diesel. Now, just 3 months later, I'm looking at $3.28/gal. Ouch! Even with a beeline, that's about 2200 miles at about 3 tank fulls at 80 gallons per fill. Well, I'm not looking for sympathy, but I would like to know why the fuel goes up at the hint of a storm, but when numerous countries are poised to release millions of gallons of fuel, those price variations do not show reciprocal actions. Hmmm, just curious.