Hi, Sean.
Thanks for bringing out some good points.
The price of crude oil in the world market is only one component that affects the actual retail price at the gas pump, and accounts for approximately 65% of the actual cost. The mark-ups that severely affect consumers are from the oil refineries and wholesalers of oil, gas and derivative products.
In fact, when one major Texas oil refinery was damaged by fire, gas prices suddenly went up (specially felt here in California), even when actual global oil prices at the time were stable.
This again happened when Hurricane Katrina struck, knocking down several facilities in the Gulf States.
Arnie
