The Youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7vGDwGLU7s gives a very excellent, visual explanation for what is happening to the oil prices now. Many have predicted it, and we are seeing it play out. Oil prices spike, causing a recession, which kills demand, lowering oil prices enough for a recovery, which causes demand to rise again and spike prices back up again.

Of course, there is more to this recession than oil (unsustainable amounts of debt), but I think the oil price spike caused this recession to start a few years earlier than it otherwise would have. Right now the primary blowback is the unsustainable credit bubble collapsing, amplifying the effect that high oil prices otherwise would have had. The above video is still instructive.