Question in this area. When gas was much less we were always told the local guy made very little on a gallon, and, obviously there was less room to jack up that little by more little. Today, at $4.00 a gallon, is it any easier for the local guy to double his penny-or whatever it is?
Retailers make next-to-nothing on the sale of gasoline. Instead, with the rise of convenience stores, it's the merchandise inside the store that generates most (if not all) of the profits.
But, let's give them the benefit of the doubt, let's say their gross profit margin on gasoline sales is 4%. That's fair -- they could make the same by investing in the money market.
4% of $4.00 is more than 4% of $3.50 (and it should be, because the higher gasoline goes, the more capital it takes to run the place). So, yes, the higher the price, the more pennies they'll make per sale. But the fewer sales they'll likely have.
Everybody's profits in the oil business are measured in pennies. The refineries net about 8-10 cents per gallon of gasoline. Their profits are so huge because they sell so damn much of it (along with all the other vital by-products of crude oil).
But, if one argues Big Oil should "give back" some of their "obscene profit", how much of that dime do they think would be fair? Especially since Big Oil is already paying 30-50 cents per gallon the government for the privlege of collecting their dime.