Date......Future$/bbl...Stock on hand\Mbbl
3/1/01.......27.62.......277315
3/1/02.......22.40.......320549
3/1/03.......35.88.......269757
3/1/04.......36.86.......275782
So, with a 44 gallon barrel of refined crude yielding 19.5 gallons of gasoline (plus all the other petro stuff) the year over year price of a gallon of gas, based on the crude oil content is $.05. And, there is slightly more stockpiles this year than last.
With inflation and wages stable, the refining cost should be similar, distribution cost should be similar, there have been no new Federal gas taxes, and there's lots of competition at the pump.
??So what's jacking up the price of gasoline?? There's got to be some gouging along the way!
If you choose to define "gouging" as charging what the market will bear, then I guess all consumer product pricing is the result of "gouging".