[ChicagoConservative27]

I don’t get it. Oil per barrel is under 40 bucks, and gas is still over 2 bucks for middle and premium gas?

[aruanan]

Oil per barrel is under 40 bucks, and gas is still over 2 bucks for middle and premium gas?

Well, there's only about 19 gallons of gasoline in a 42 gallon barrel of oil. So there's about $1/gallon of the cost right there, add refining costs, transport, delivery in the gas station, etc., a little over $2/gallon is still pretty cheap--it's cheaper in constant dollars than it was between 1979 and 1984.

[Smokin' Joe]

Don’t forget that the use of MTBE as an oxygenating additive was dropped, and ethanol mandated by Federal Law while the price was climbing back when. That alone added to the cost of producing a gallon of gas. When the liability waiver for MTBE was not renewed by Congress, gas prices jumped about 40 cents/gallon in a very short time (at least in my area).