How does a gas station know when to either raise or lower gas prices?
955410
They just know when do it! Plus I think the market might have something to do with it. Plus the super panty just knows those things!
68168
Gas prices are set based on supply and demand. If more people are using gas or there is a lower amount of gas being produced then the prices will go up.\n\nThe recent increase in prices is probably due to the growing tension with Iran. If for some reason the oil from Iran is cut off, there will be less production.
68886
First, you have the price of a barrel of oil. It is set basically by OPEC and the futures market. The oil companies buy oil and this rate and send it to the refineries. Refineries then convert the oil in gasoline (among quite a lot else). Refineries in turn sell the gas to wholesalers. The wholesalers then sell to your local gas station.\n\nMany times you will see stations within a mile of each other with wildly different prices. The reason for this is quite simple: busier stations sell more gas, and therefore buy more gas than a slower station. When prices are going up, for example, the station that sold the gas faster will have to buy the more expensive gas while the slower station still has the less expensive stuff in the ground. Then people rush to the lower-priced station and the whole process repeats.\n\nGas stations make, on average, about 5-10 cents per gallon depending on the market. In short, they make more off the car wash or can of Coke than the 50 gallons of gas you just bought.
1038899
Yes, I read the same article.  Basically, it lets you buy gas that cheap because those people paid for the gas a few years ago.  The ones near 1 were probably before 2000?   And there are going to be a few near 2 dollars from a few years back.\n\nThere's always the risk that you have to wait for the prices to come back up if you locked in your gas at a relatively high price.  You're also spending money now instead of later, so the person gets your money and earns interest on it.
1165222
Through Government decisions. It is officially known as 'Administrative Price Mechanism' or APM. It will be phased out completely soon and fuel prices shall be left to be decided by market forces; that same old Demand -Supply function of Elementary Economics which we all study in our schools and colleges.
371004
Most gas stations, even those with well known names, will typically get their gasoline from the most economical source as long as it meets their specifications. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy from a local refinery and save the cost of hauling from your own refinery.\n\nActually I buy a lot from Exxon because their prices are 1 to 3 cents below the next closest gas station.\n\nThe idea that you can force gas prices down is a pipe dream. You can boycott all you want, there is a very high demand for gasoline and that will only go higher with a resulting further rise in gasoline prices.
517097
They (I assume you mean oil companies) have every right to raise prices.  Its called capitalism!  If you want to be picky, why don't people protest bottled water or movie popcorn?  Its profit margin is a helluva lot higher than gas.  \n\nThere are a lot of other options for people if they think gas prices are too high.  Don't drive! Ride a bike, walk, public transportation...
322862
Gas taxes provide the majority of the road upkeep in the country, which is underfunded as it is. How exactly would that help? Also, $.30 per gallon is not going to affect gas prices all that much. They will continue to go up, no matter what.
348677
The way gas prices are set is extremely complex, it depends on a variety of factors. It's too difficult to explain in a few sentences but here's a link that does a very good job explaining how the prices are set:\nhttp://money.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm\n\nIn general ,however, you can't look at something simply in terms of price. \nLet's take Norway for example, the salaries there are higher then in the US. Also the main way people people move around is via public transportation ,not cars, hence, the demand for gas is much lower, which in turn drives the prices up. Higher taxes and enviormental processing requirements also drive up the cost significantly. Additionally, the Norwegian government is very conservative when it come to money, although, they have the biggest oil reserve in the Europe, they choose to save it for a rainy day rather then sell it cheaply to their citizen (like Venezuela and Brazil does). They are the richest country in the world for a reason.
386133
Good question....\nWhen supply is down, demand and price go up \nWhen supply goes up probably because demand goes down so does the price.....I think its something like that but...try reading a book called Business Essentials
1026623
Inflation.  Today's high gas prices are caused not by shortages, as the world is awash with oil.  The current pricing is driven by distribution.  Any disruption of the distribution process creates shortages, which lead to scarcity and high prices.  Current oil prices are driven by speculation in the oil commodities market.  At some point, fuel alternatives will be developed, and prices will abate.  When that happens, speculators holding high priced oil futures contracts will lose money.  The propensity is to keep prices high to avoid loss.  When, and if oil production in offshore Gulf of Mexico come back on line, oil prices will drop, probably sharply.\nThe price of petroleum affects every aspect in the production of economic goods and services, worldwide.
373951
http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statistics/gasoline_cpi_adjusted.html\n\nLove Mama Giggles
312843
Gas prices tend to have a delayed, but significant impact on retail goods.\n\nEverything from digging oil and minerals out of the ground, to transporting them to factories, to making them into goods, to transferring them to the distribution warehouses and the final point of sale involves fuel.  As gas prices increase, that increase is added several times to the cost of selling goods.\n\nMarket prices, however, are only loosely related to manufacturing prices though, so the impact will be felt, not so much by the consumer, as by the manufacturers and distributors.  As their profit margins disappear, they will go out of business, leaving fewer choices for consumers.\n\nAs manufacturers, distributors and retailers go out of business, prices will then rise for consumers due to the reduction of competition.  At that point, the cost of living will force many people to change the way they live.  There will be more demand for smaller houses, public transportation and inferior goods.  You will also see an increase in the number of people on public assistance.\n\nOur whole economy, and indeed our whole way of life, is fueled by gasoline.  And the gas is going to eventually run out.  If we don't get serious about making changes, our country has a very bleak future.
873620
If they release oil reserves every time the price rises a little it will go down, but we will pay for it dearly when the oil producing countries see that our reserves are getting low. Six years ago our reserves were at an all time low. We held our own for a while but eventually the suppliers realized we didn't have backup and that's how we reached the all time high prices. Several months ago the reserves were in the ninety percent range and that is when it finally started dropping. If they do use the reserves properly gas prices will remain stable. If it does drop dramatically look out we will pay for it later.
378056
They'll just keep putting the prices up because they know that companies and individuals have no option but to pay.  It's what's heppened here in the UK where gas is now more than $7.50 a gallon and demand is still rising.\n\nThere won't be fuel rationing unless there's an actual shortage of fuel and that doesn't seem likely.\n\nI can only speak for the UK when I say that there has been fuel rationing - during the war and during the oil crisis of the early 1970's.
491113
There is none, if inflation had followed suit with everything else clothes, food, building supplies etc.It would be over 3 dollars a gallon.The problem is people actually give idiots like micheal moore and al fraken credibility, its uncanny!!!!They have both been proven to be liars.One of the biggest reasons gas prices increase is simply speculative theory!! we went to war for humanitarian reasons, those people want us there they were under dictatorship. clinton sent soliders into Bosnia in 98 and knowone had a problem with that, it was for humanitarian reasons or so we thought.The real problem a lot of people have with this is the time its taking but you cant put a time frame on something like this.
1037312
Not me. I can't figure out why businesses persist in using this outmoded contrivance. Most people look at a price like that and automatically round up in their heads. A lot of people (like myself) see it as an insult to our intelligence, and it doesn't take a genius to see there's little difference.\n\nThis convention is used in cents and in dollars, but it never amounts to large amounts.  For examples, you may see prices like $1.99, $19.99, $199.99 and you may see prices with no cents displayed like $199 or $1999, but you won't see that convention used in larger numbers like $100,000 and up (unless WalMart starts selling Rolls-Royce cars).\n\n\nWhat really gets me is how the price of gas on a pump is displayed as, say $2.78.99 rather than $2.79. I mean, is there a solid study or market analysis that shows a real reason for splitting off one one-hundredth of a cent?  \n\nPull-eeze!