What do you get when you take increased global demand, rising operational costs, long-range missile tests, Middle East instability and throw in some after-effects from a walloping hurricane?

Give up?

Try rising gas prices across America.

In the past years, the growing economies of China and India have caused a jump in world petroleum consumption. Damage caused by Hurricane Katrina hampered U.S. oil production. Unrest in Nigeria brought upon shortage fears. All of these factors and more have made filling up the family car equal coughing up some serious dough.

Now missile building in North Korea and missile launching in the Middle East are adding to the high costs.

Last week, the global woes hit home when retail prices for regular gas topped the $3 per gallon mark in both Champaign and Urbana. Other Illinois cities, such as Bloomington-Normal, Danville, Decatur and Springfield have experienced similar increases.

Yet, feeling pain at the pump is nothing new for consumers. Gas and diesel prices have been steadily on the rise since 2002 and unfortunately for most drivers, they show no signs of slowing or dropping in the near future.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, regular gasoline summer prices are expected to average $2.88 per gallon nationwide, 51 cents higher than last year’s average of $2.37. For diesel fuel, summer prices are expected to average $2.86 per gallon, 45 cents higher than last year’s average of $2.41. The EIA stated on its Web site that “it is nearly certain that gasoline prices will remain relatively high.”

An informal survey by the Daily Illini on Thursday showed most of C-U gas prices were barely below the three dollar mark.

The outbreak of violence between Lebanon and Israel is often cited as a reason for the most recent price jump this week. Yet, neither country is a major producer or seller of oil.

The real reason for gas price jitters, according to Doug McIntyre, senior oil market analyst for the EIA, can be found to the east of the current fighting, in Iran.

According to McIntyre, Hezbollah, which captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12 sparking the Israeli response, has ties with Iran making the nation a possible player and target in the conflict. Seeing that it is a large producer of global oil, any attack or embargo on Iran could send oil markets into a frenzy.

“Because much of the world’s oil is still in the ground (in the Middle East), any unrest or instability in the region makes markets uneasy that the conflict could spread across borders and impact the producers,” McIntyre said.

As a result, market analysts and buyers are factoring supply disruptions in the price.

“That’s one risk that the market factors in,” McIntyre said.

McIntyre also added that this military clash and uncertainty is nothing new.

“The regions that produce a lot of oil have been historically regions that have a lot of instability,” McIntyre said.

Economics Professor Fred Gottheil, who specializes in Middle East economies, agreed that people are nervous about the situation so the pricing of oil is fluctuating.

“Most recently, anything that creates an uncertainty in the market has the effect of creating speculative pricing,” Gottheil said.

U.S. gas prices can essentially be broken down into four elements: crude oil price, refining costs, distribution and marketing and taxes. Each component can fluctuate depending on numerous factors, making the prices unpredictable.

When asked if it was possible to predict future prices, McIntyre conceded that it was too difficult to tell.

“Political instability is impossible to predict and that’s what essentially makes it anyone’s guess,” McIntyre said.

He said the best indicator for future prices is last month’s prices.

Some minor relief did come to consumers late Wednesday afternoon when crude oil prices fell for the third straight day, closing at $72.33 a barrel, down from a record $77.03 a barrel last Friday. Yet the relief was short-lived when crude oil closed at $73.08 Thursday for the futures market August projection on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

“It’s becoming more and more unlikely that Iran will become directly involved, but it’s still an unsettling situation, which is keeping oil prices relatively high,” John Kilduff, analyst at Fimat USA, told the Associated Press. “These are still extraordinary levels, really.”

One would think that high costs are driving automobiles off the roads all together. Not true said Nicole Niemi, the AAA’s Chicago spokeswoman.

According to Niemi, there has been record traveling this summer from flying to driving and foreign to domestic travel. In fact, she said this year’s Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekend saw an increase in the number of travelers from last year’s figures.

According to the association, the Great Lakes region, comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, saw approximately 4.6 million auto travelers and 400,000 air travelers for Memorial Day and roughly 4.7 million auto travelers and 600,000 air travelers for the Fourth of July.

Instead of completely forgoing trips, families are cutting corners to make them more affordable. While traveling they may purchase fewer souvenirs, pack more homemade lunches, sleep at cheaper hotels or cut back on traveling long distances.

“To save money, travelers may cut other areas of their travel budget, but they’re still vacationing in record numbers,” Niemi said. “It’s a selective decision on where and what you can afford.”

For those cutting back on their expenses, Niemi said there are several key tips that can lower gas consumption. Making sure a car is properly maintained and cared for will ensure better gas mileage. Driving the speed limit and using cruise control when possible will keep a vehicle from wasting gas, as well. Niemi said using the air conditioner is better than rolling down the windows which create heavy drag at high speeds.

Niemi explained how fuel is typically the smallest cost of a family’s travel budget. Therefore, the added $100 to $200 from higher fuel costs is not enough to warrant total cancellation.

Moreover, travel rates have been low in recent years, meaning that people nowadays may be more willing to get out and go since they’ve put off traveling in the past.

“If gas is $4 per gallon that might be different but then again $3 per gallon didn’t do anything either,” Niemi added.