I think our gas prices have basically doubled since "the war on terror" and Katrina. I know our prices were considerably less than those in Europe, but has this same increase happened there?

Simple economics says that if supply is down - the excuse relating to the Katrina effect - then prices rise. There should be no affect on the profits of the oil companies. The same would hold true if supplies increase - the price falls but the increased volume offsets it and profits are stable.

The fact that each and every oil company has record profits each quarter since this is evidence of gouging and fraud.