With oil close to $100 a barrel and Christmas right around the corner, gasoline may turn out to be this year’s Tickle Me Elmo. The most popular “Santa” may be the person who shows up with a gift-wrapped, 5-gallon jerry can of regular, not the guy with the latest iPod or the smallest cell phone. And oil makes a great present for everyone – granny or grandkid, boss or employee, rich or poor.

What do you get for the person who has everything? Gas! What do you get that hard-to-shop-for relative? Gas! What do you bring for the host of Christmas dinner? Candles? A bottle of wine? Homemade cookies? Flowers? Why not 5 gallons of gas? (Just a note from personal experience, make sure your host doesn’t put it near the open-flame chafing dishes.)

No one returns gas the day after Christmas, you can give as much or as little as you want, and you can do all your shopping in one place. Say you find out that someone you didn’t shop for will be a Christmas party, gas is ideal for last-minute shopping. What could be easier? It saves a lot of running around, which saves gas!

The bright-red gas containers already come in Christmas red, but I’m sure companies will start making “gift cans” with the appropriate decorations when barrels top $200. Birthday cans, anniversary cans and graduation gas cans for your favorite student. Remember, nothing says, “class” like a vintage import.