And maybe the cost does fluctuate that wildly from day to day or hour to hour...But that doesn't seem to reflect the reality of it all...I have seen prices jump 25 cents and more all at once...I have never seen the price drop more than a few pennies at a time...
It's hard to believe that the cost of the gas would jump that quickly without falling just as quickly...Just word of this strike alone caused a 25 cent jump in my area...
There is one station I drive by daily (and sometime stop at) which is an Admiral station...The price fluctuates often and is often 10 to 15 cents below everyone else around who are never more than 1 to 2 cents off from each other...I'm thinking this single station may actually represent the rise and fall in their cost of the product...
If they are moving enough volume, they are keeping the lights on by moving volume, not making their profit on margin. Much depends on the supplier, too.
About 40 miles from where I live, gas is 25 cents a gallon cheaper, and the retailers prices are usually within a couple of cents of each other if the retailers are within a couple of miles of each other. It is difficult to say who is getting what cut of the difference, though.
Prices fall slower because they have already paid for the fuel they are pumping now at yesterday's (higher) prices. When the price is heading up, it is in anticipation of paying more for the next load. The margin might balloon a few cents on one side of the curve or the other, but I would wager no one is making a killing either way.