There is no question added taxes drive up the price of a gallon of gas. But taxes are constant, from day to day.
By the same token, there is no question that oil is a commodity with very volatile pricing. But it is because of the stranglehold Big Oil has on its customers that it can allow its pricing to be so volatile. How often would you be willing to shop in a grocery store that, without warning, raises its prices 8.69%? But that is what happened at an area filling station, just a couple nights back. Prices jumped from $3.45/gallon to $3.75/gallon. A mere 24 hours later, the price fell 1.333%, to $3.70/gallon.
How would you feel if you paid $7.50 to see a movie on Monday, only to be charged $8.15, to see the same movie on Tuesday? And then come to find out that people saw the same movie on Wednesday and paid only $8.04.
But here is where Big Oil gets its teeth. Big Oil KNOWS you are going to use your vehicle/s to drive tomorrow, the same as you did today. If you find gasoline priced a nickel higher tomorrow, they know you are going to gripe about it. But they also know you are going to gripe whilst you stand there, pumping their product into your tank. Is the price on that product artificially-inflated. Heck yes, it is. But Big Oil doesn't care that you know that, all they care about is you buying the product.
Remember when oil companies ran commercials on TV, trying to get you to purchase their product? Remember getting green stamps, or yellow stamps, for each dollar you spent? I remember we used to have promotions where we would give away silverware, plates, bowls, glasses and coffee cups. People would carry empty gas cans in their trunks, so they could buy and extra gallon or two, in order to get two forks, instead of just one.
But it is no longer necessary for the oil companies to waste profit on sales promotions, because they know you are going to drive at least as far tomorrow, as you did today.
The most painful part about volatile gasoline prices is that none of us can identify what really causes the pain - the fact we are all addicted to gasoline and that we have to have it, in ever-increasing quantities. If you don't like paying the price, there is always public transportation, which is abysmal in this country. But it was our greedy desire to live away from city centers and commute in our gas hog vehicles that killed public transportation, so there's little sense in griping about that spilled milk.
We blindly dropped our trousers, so there should be no surprise that Big Oil is there to take advantage of us.