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Originally Posted by Oregon Elephant
Sorry, but since it is a global commodity, gobal prices are what count. And anyway, I am seeing a price drop in gas.
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It can't be a very significant drop since the national average hasn't significantly dropped.
Quote:
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You do know that gas prices are set by the gas stations (each station independently) and you know that they make very little money, right? If oil falls to $5 a barrel, gas will drop, because if gas stations are only paying $0.50 a gallon, then some of them will lower their prices to take customers from those that refuse to lower prices, that's how supply and demand works.
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But the gas station owners do have to pay others for the gasoline that they sell and these others have to pay others. Of course the guy on the bottom is making the least amount of money!
Oh, and in some places, it's actually illegal to lower one's prices all that much lower than the other gas stations:
Laws in several states require gasoline retailers to set gasoline prices at minimum levels, thus artificially inflating the price at the pump.
In Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, and several other states, minimum gas price laws require gasoline retailers to set a minimum price for gasoline based on the current average wholesale price. In each case, lobbyist groups for service station organizations pushed the laws through.
SOURCE