>>Why is it that as soon as the price of oil goes up, it goes up at the pump immediately, supposedly because they forecast what it will cost them to replenish their stocks. But, when it goes down, as it did today, prices don't go down immediately as well since replenishing their stocks will cost less?
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http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080929/oil_prices.html>
>Simple answer : Ike
>Generic answer : Gas price is complicated
>Conspiratorial answer : Oil companies are screwing us
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>How gas prices work:
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http://auto.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htmWell, I read it all, and yes, gas prices are complicated, but according to those articles, 73% of the price at the pump is based on world oil prices, and nothing in the article really explains (at least not clearly enough for this old brain to figure it out) the answer to Tracy's question. When world prices go up, the price at the pump goes up immediately. When world prices go down, the price at the pumps does not go down immediately. An all this while the oil companies are crying poor and recording record profits.
The classic line is that when world prices drop, "we're still selling gas we had to buy at higher prices". I've never heard anyone admit that when the world price goes up, they're sellling gas they bought at lower prices.
