I'm suspicious that the pump prices haven't followed the general trend in crude prices. It seems like it almost used to be instantaneous that pump prices followed oil commodity prices up, but very sluggish to go down when crude moderated. Could it be that the reserves are being tapped, and we aren't aware? Election year politics would make it an attractive political move. I know we were building reserves earlier this year, but I haven't caught any recent news about it.
Yup. That's the classic pattern. Clearly there is something going on that we are not privy to.
The reserves are probably too small to affect the prices.
Remember when Bush sent alot of oil to reserves? Well, in that process, oil companies also stocked up on oil. Also, gas has a shelf live. If alot is refined but doesn't go to market, then prices drop for gas...they need to get rid of it (it can't sit in the tank for too long). Another factor is that China is also acquiring alot of oil. We are not the only country that jacks up the price of oil.