"I think this will be surprising to people, but outside of transportation and gasoline, the most intensive energy users are the chemical industry, the forest products industry and the glass industry," says Dr. Walden, an economist with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.

"Now the chemical industry, of course, uses a lot of energy to make things like plastic products and fertilizers. So one result should be that ... if these oil prices persist, we will likely see over time higher prices for things that come in plastic bottles or fertilizers, for example, that farmers use.

"Same way with the forest products industry furniture: There is a lot of energy that goes in, for example, to making furniture. Again we should expect to see significantly higher furniture prices if these higher oil prices persist.

"And then lastly glass: So anything made with glass –- bottles, windows -- again, the answer is we should expect to see higher prices because that industry is an intensive energy user."