The price of oil has its ups and downs. But Tex Pitfield, a former fuel company president and petroleum industry consultant, says gone are the days of dollar a gallon gas.

With America still in a recession, Pitfield says the current spike in oil prices could not come at a worse time. Here’s what he told FOX News in a recent interview:

“The dramatic increase in the cost of energy last summer is what put this economy over the edge, and now we’re in the situation we’re in. How ironic that, here we are in the deep end of the pool drowning and the cost of energy is going through the roof again.”

In the video below, Pitfield explains the market forces driving increased prices at the pump, and consumers explain the effect the cost of gas is having on them.

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You can read more of Tex Pitfield’s analysis in Producer Brooks Blanton’s Liveshots blog.