Why gasoline follows oil up but not down
The short answer: service stations do it because they can. But the amount they're making off you may be surprising.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If it seems like gasoline prices are quick to skyrocket when the price of oil goes up but then take their sweet 'ol time coming back down when crude prices sink, the answer is simple: they do.
"There is a rocket and feather aspect," said Tom Kloza, Chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.
And the reason seems to be simple economics.
The service stations are still selling the same amount of gasoline when wholesale prices fall, said Kloza, "so there's no reason to drop."
"Human nature being what it is, [service stations] typically react [to a spike in oil prices] by pushing prices higher even before they replace their in inventories," said Geoff Sundstrom, spokesman for the motorist organization AAA.
"And human nature being what it is, unless other stations bring their prices down, he's going to be very reluctant to bring down his."
Entire article:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm?cnn=yes