Bulletin: 2006 turns out to have been yet another "stellar" year for the oil industry

The headline on this item caught my eye, thinking back to those magically sinking gas-pump prices during the election season:

Oil Prices End 2006 Where They Started
By BRAD FOSS
AP

WASHINGTON (Dec. 29) - Oil prices settled above $61 a barrel Friday to finish 2006 roughly where they began, marking another tough year for energy consumers and another stellar one for the petroleum industry.

It was the fifth straight year in which oil prices were higher than the year before, on average. . . .


Of course, I suppose it could have been worse. Pump prices could have kept right on going up. Well, we've got a whole new year to work with now.