What's to Blame for Jump in Gas Prices?
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you have probably noticed which direction gasoline prices have gone lately. According to the latest survey, pump prices have jumped about $0.03 a gallon in the past two weeks. That's a nationwide average, not in some neighborhoods, though, where the price has jumped some $0.20. Anyway, the Lundberg survey shows that the average price for regular unleaded is now at $1.41 per gallon. The change has been dramatic over the past year, shooting up more than $0.30 a gallon. So, what's to blame for the jump in gas prices? Well, 15 percent of the oil consumed in the United States comes from Venezuela. A three week general strike there has shut down that country's oil exports. And CNN's Carol Lin sorts things out for us.</s>CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What does this have to do with this have to do with this? More than you might think, and it's all pretty simple when you connect the dots. This scene is about leadership, leadership of a country, leadership of an economy, an economy heavily dependent on oil exports and responsible for 15 percent of all oil consumed in the United States. And because of a crisis in leadership, the oil industry is on strike and no oil is leaving the country. And that's where this comes in, an early winter in the West, which means greater demand for heating oil. The temperature goes down, the heaters go up. So as energy demand increases, you're feeling it here. Gas prices have risen by close to $0.03 per gallon over the past week, according to a new survey. That's also partly because the United States has decided not to tap into its strategic oil reserves to cover the loss of Venezuelan exports. So really it all comes down to that old economic tenet of supply and demand. Supply is down, demand is up, and you're stuck in the middle.</s>CALLAWAY: By the way, Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter.