Consumers will likely feel the effects of rising oil prices and it won’t be just at the gas pump. The price of crude oil has risen to record highs over the past few weeks with little sign that it will let up anytime soon.

Clifford Wirth is a Political Science Professor at the University of New Hampshire. He works with Peak Oil Associates International, an organization that researches the decline of oil supplies and its effects on the United States.

He feels skyrocketing demand for oil, mixed with the leveling off of oil supplies, has created the current rise in oil prices. Wirth says consumers will feel the rise in oil prices in the cost of all products, not just gasoline.

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“The only thing consumers can do to protect themselves is to spend less and to conserve all of the financial resources they can because we’re going into a recession, a depression which will only get worse over time,” Wirth said.

Oil field owners here in Illinois are experiencing the decreasing supply of oil. In August, oil production was at its lowest since 1949. The oil that remains in Illinois fields requires more money and effort to extract.

Brad Richards is the Executive Vice President of The Illinois Oil and Gas Association. He says the rising cost of oil is an incentive for Illinois Oil producers to try and produce more oil, despite the challenges of a decline.

“It is a finite resource, when you peak in production and come to a decline that decline tends to be very difficult to overcome,” Richards said.

Illinois oil producers continue to use new methods of oil recovery and are actively looking for more oil fields.