If the shareholders thought beyond the initial greed and kept their prices lower, with fuel going up as high as u say, then id say just about everyone would be switching to gas, thus giving the Gas companys a monopoly on the market.
do all states offer rebates for gas conversion? I think the cost is probably the prohibitive part of the conversion? I know in WA they pay just about all of the cost...oil is heading north but I don't know if fuel prices will soar so long as the AUD keeps close to parity with the USD. It could be much higher if not for the current strength of our dollar.
time will tell...