So let's see.....crude oil goes down
 

18% in the last 2 weeks, as does demand. But the price of gas remains (at least in Utah) at around it's peak? You supply/demand nutz, still believe it's supply/demand or crude oil prices that is driving the cost at the fuel pump?

LOL, haven't you been reading the national news stories. Prices at the pump are down signigicantly on a national basis. Do you reference everything to what happens in Utah?

Perhaps you didn't notice when prices shot up above $4 nationally they were for a time lower than $4 here in Utah. I don't know how to explain that or the current situation. However, to test any economic formula, I get a lot bigger sample size than the state of Utah.

Bigger is always better, with respect to sample size.

You do realize that the gas at the station was refined some time ago under the higher per barrel price? And that the gas station paid a higher price for that particular gas because the price of the oil from whence it came was higher? And that the cheaper gas made from the cheaper oil we have today will eventually make it's way to the gas station with the resultant lower price passed on for you to bitch about?

Last week, my local BP dropped from $3.89 to $3.62 overnight.

Meanwhile, the crude prices you read about are based on speculations and futures. It takes time for that price to go from the pipeline to the refinery to your friendly neighborhood gas station.

Especially when oil changes are involved.

So......why do gas prices go up faster
 

when the price per barrel increases but they come down slower? How does that fit into your nonsensical rationale?

Let me take a stab at your question.
 

Why do I reference everything (exaggeration but I'll accept that) to what happens in Utah? Let's see. Because I live in Utah and it affects us as Utahns? Duh!

Are you contending that the cost of gas for the station should have no effect on the retail price of the gas for the customer? Is that what you call "nonsensical rationale?"

You really are clueless, aren't you?

Exute is right for once. I was listening to a broadcast a few days ago about AAA's most recent report that during the period when crude prices fell 15% pump prices only fell 3% nationally. They take the position that while prices eventually come down, station owners will wait a week or so before passing the savings on to the consumer where as they will raise prices immediately when demand or prices increase. It also seems that stations near one another almost invariable refrain from competing with each other, but rather collude so that they all profit.

I think it is a legitimate question to ask whether this is an industry where the market principles that make most things work are actually in operation. It seems like there are many anticompetitive practices being utilized. If this is so, it ought not be.

EDIT: Here is the article they were talking about.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08032008...ump_122827.htm