Oil at $106. Down 22 percent from high.... Why isn't gas down 22 percent?

[Stuart G]

Oil was trading today at more than 22 percent below its high of $146 dollars a barrel. But at the local gas station, the cost is just about 10 percent lower.. Where the hell is the extra 12 percent? You mean to say that the oil companies need more money?


Read about it here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080902/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices_22

[pampango]

1. Ours has gone from $4.25 to $3.53 in SW Ohio, so it's only down

about 17% here.

[Stuart G]

2. In the Chicago Area..It was $4.29..and now $3.95..

That is less then ten percent.(36 cents, ten percent would be 42 cents) I know it sounds silly, but guess who is from the Chicago Area? A certain fellow named Obama..Durbin isn't exactly the friend of big oil either.

[tritsofme]

10. You have got to be kidding me.

Exactly how long have you resided in Cook County for you to just notice now that you're paying more for gas than most people in this country?

[DeadManInc]

3. It is $3.55 here in NE Ohio

[Alcibiades]

4. It will go down until the election

If Obama is elected, it will continue to moderate, for fear of the many investigations of how traders are colluding to raise the price.

If McCain cheats enough to "win," then it will skyrocket after the election.

[pampango]

6. Oil/gas prices almost always go down after the summer, then bottom

in mid-winter and rise in the spring.

[Stuart G]

5. I believe we will see $2.90 by late October...then,,,

after the election it will go back up..

But right before the election, all important costs (especially food) in the economy will go drastically down.
..I believe it is all a ploy to get Mc Idiot elected.

[MercutioATC]

7. It's down about 16% here.

(west Cleveland 'burbs)

[Stuart G]

8. Does anyone know who actually detemines the final price we pay? and how that is done? nt

[tritsofme]

11. This speaks volumes about your OP and subsequent posts.

I'm out the door to work and I wish I could point you to some informative links, but I'm sure someone else can.

[Stuart G]

12. My question relates to these two factors...

A. Why are there such differences between companies in a particular area? (One gas station is at $3.95, while another is at $3.87)
B. Why are there such differences in different parts of the country? Southwest Ohio is $3.59 while Chicago is at $4.01 and Rocford Illinois is at $3.77.

..Of course, the price of gas is based on many factors that we all know about. But does the gas station itself set the price, or is it told what price it can set by its supplier?

[Squatch]

9. The price you pay at the pump is based on oil that was sold months ago.

[Canuckistanian]

13. Then why do gas prices INCREASE IN DAYS?

This is something I've never understood.

If gas prices are REALLY based on real oil costs paid months ago, why do prices rise within a few DAYS of an oil increase?

And it's even worse than that.

Some gas stations only get a delivery a few times a week, so sometimes you're paying a higher price today for the same gas that was in the same tank as yesterday.

And it CAN'T have anything to do with the gas station's profit margin, because they've already paid for it.