There, in fact, is a perfectly good reason why petroleum prices are high: the world's two most populace nations, China and India, are both undergoing rapid economic development and generating huge new demand for petroleum.
The 'running out of oil' stuff is, of course, rubbish: at these prices oil shale is viable as an oil source, and we've got lots of that.
We're not running out of oil--but we have run out of cheap oil. It get's harder and harder to find large quantities of oil--but you are correct; as we do deplenish cheaper sources, then oil shale (and gas) become viable alternatives. As long as we have a gasoline infrastructure, we will be slaves to oil.
We have plenty of the regular stuff, too. If only the envoronmentalists would let us drill for it. They just found a huge field in the Gulf of Mexico. You can bet the enviros are already coming up with reasons we shouldn't have at it.