Political upheaval in oil producing African and Middle Eastern states could drive the price of gasoline to $5 per gallon this summer in the United States.

Following the lead of neigbouring Egypt, Libyans are attempting to remove the current governing regime.  Similiar political unrest has been sparked in some of the Middle East's major oil producing countries -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Iran.

The increasing turmoil has caused light crude oil prices to jump more than 6% to $95.42 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday afternoon.  The last time oil traded at this price was October 2, 2008.

Libya holds Africa's largest oil reserves, and is the world's 15th largest exporter of oil.  Increasing violence coupled with the defection of major government officials have led many oil companies to suspend operations and remove personnel from the country.  The energy markets are particularly worried about political unrest spreading through the rest of OPEC's major oil producers.

There are other catalysts involved in rising oil prices, but Darin Newsom, senior analyst at energy tracker DTN says, "If this thing escalates and there's a good chance that there'd be a shift in supplies, $5 gas isn't out of the question."

Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency's chief economist went even further with his assessment that oil prices have now hit a danger zone:  "Oil prices are a serious risk for the global economic recovery.  The global economic recover is very fragile -- especially for OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] countries."