[Alberta's Child]

If you plot a graph of gasoline prices over the course of every year since the mid-2000s you'll find a similar pattern almost without exception. Fuel prices rise dramatically in April and May, then fall again in October and November. This is partially due to higher auto usage during the summer months, but also due to the higher refining costs associated with the ethanol mandate that's in place during the summer.

This is why a comparison of fuel prices from the same week or month from one year to the next tells us more than a comparison from week to week or month to month.

[gdzla]

A barrel of oil at $90-$95 and a gallon of gas at nearly $4?
Just saying.
Where are all the stories of price gouging at the pump at nauseum like we had when Bush was President?

[thackney]

If you plot a graph of gasoline prices over the course of every year since the mid-2000s you'll find a similar pattern almost without exception. Fuel prices rise dramatically in April and May, then fall again in October and November.

Weekly U.S. All Grades All Formulations Retail Gasoline Prices
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMM_EPM0_PTE_NUS_DPG&f=W

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

If you plot a graph of gasoline prices over the course of every year since the mid-2000s you'll find a similar pattern almost without exception. Fuel prices rise dramatically in April and May, then fall again in October and November. This is partially due to higher auto usage during the summer months, but also due to the higher refining costs associated with the ethanol mandate that's in place during the summer.

If you plot a graph of gasoline prices for the last 30 or so years you'll see that the average price per gallon of gasoline hovered around $1.00 to $1.20 from 1980 to 2000. Once Bush took office prices began to rise and shot up to $4.12 per gallon in 2008 just before he left office.

As I've pointed out before, the price per gallon did drop dramatically from the historical high of $4.12 under the Bush administration to $1.84 just before Obama took office where it resumed its steady climb to where we are today.

The ebb and flow of gas prices from year to year could be attributed to the reasons you point out, but the historical highs we've been paying under the previous two administrations are for different reasons.

See: Historical Gas Price Charts and Gasoline Price History

[AFPhys]

Price is $4.10 here in Central NY State.