Then why are gas prices up here in the good ol USA? Useage is down!
It is irrelevant that useage is down in the US, because oil is a worldwide commodity, and useage, especially daily useage vs. daily production is up worldwide.

prices are up!
Because worldwide useage is up. The peak of oil production (that is, oil pumped out of the ground) occured in 2008. Total useable oil-product production has gone up somewhat since 2008, because non-traditional sources of energy (not oil pumped from the ground) have been produced to create oil.

The economy is in terrible shape and has been for 2-3 yrs now.
The economy is in the same terrible shape it has been in for 2-3 years???
That is why American is recalling, and Continental is recalling, and Alaska is recalling, and Delta is hiring, and AirTran is hiring, and SWA is hiring, and UAL/CAL will be hiring as soon as their merger is organized, and all the US ACMI cargo companies are hiring, and DAL is reporting their best quarter in 2 years, and the US Airlines as a whole are adding capacity, and all the regionals are either recalling or hiring, and it's impossible to get a 747-400 freighter because demand is so high, and my airline just announced a Capt upgrade for about 6% of their pilot force.

How is it that oil prices are up?
Because the worldwide economy is out of the slump it was in, and worldwide liquid oil production has peaked.

Like I said earlier, manipulated supply.
You are correct. God created the universe, and our earth, with a certain amount of oil readily available to us at this time. Our supply has been manipulated, just the way everything in the universe has been manipulated.

Still IMO.