From March 24 to April second – over a week and a half’s time – crude oil futures stayed between $69 and $71 a barrel. On April 2 the price stood at $71.71. (here is the chart, see for yourself).
On April 3, oil futures dropped to $66.95 a barrel, then $61.99 on April 4. They have stayed between $58 and $62 a barrel every day since, with an average of about $60 a barrel.
That is an average drop of about 15% for a week and a half.
But on April 4, the average price for gas in the United States was $3.268 a gallon…and right now it is $3.235. That’s a drop of just slightly more than 1%.
My question is a simple one: if the average price of oil dropped 15% – not on one or two random days but for a full week and a half – why has the average price of gas dropped just 1%? Why hasn’t it dropped a lot more?
I don’t claim to be an expert on this subject. Maybe there’s a perfectly plausible explanation. But I can’t come up with one.
Would it be fair to at least wonder about this? To at least entertain the possibility that something stinks here?
You tell me.
