Why is it that when oil prices go up, gas at the pump shoots up the next day?

Question

But when oil prices go down it take "4-6 weeks for consumers to see the drop" I saw an interview by a distributor saying "well when the price of what goes in goes up, the end price has to go up", but another interview today after prices dropped had the 4-6 week line. Silly oil companies.

Answer 1

"Silly oil companies" is a very polite way of calling them what they are.  The reason the price does not come down is because we have proven that we will pay whatever they want.  They have us over a barrel - the oil barrel.

Answer 2

It's never silly to make tons of money on us stupid consumers. And that is what they do.

Answer 3

Speculators try to stay ahead of prices, so when barrel prices go up, they immediately try for the profit margin. Then when prices go down, you are still buying the gas that had a higher price tag. It takes a while to clear the tanked gas from that market priceing before you can get the cheaper rated gas. The speculators are not going to take a loss, and I can't blame them. Thats business.Consider this, the ratio of income to gas cost is proportional to the same or equal value that existed forty years ago. I paid 30 cents per gallon at a time when I made $2.20 per hour. When I retired, the ratio was the same.