GAS TOO HIGH OR NOT HIGH ENOUGH
Greed, speculation, political tensions, supply & demand, falling dollar value, market manipulation, lack of energy conservation & discipline, need for alternative energy development, lack of our expansion in domestic production, refining capacity, etc , etc,...

The debate continues over whom/what is causing it, what to do, who should do it, who is responsible, etc, etc,…
For every opinion offered by the many economic, energy, environmental or political "experts", there is counter opinion offered by the "experts" in the same group, as well different groups. One financial firm predicts oil price will climb to 200 dollars a barrel, another says current oil prices cannot be sustained by "fundamentals" and will fall.

A locust accidentally lands on an oil pipeline and within minutes the possibility of the impact on oil supply is discussed, debated and the price of oil already in the supertanker located in the middle of the Atlantic (which has already been bought and sold several times every day since it's departure) climbs again by people who have no direct interest or actual participation in oil other than using the commodity for "global day trading". The local gas station which has not had any shipment of new fuel on the same day goes up 10-20 cents a gallon overnight.

All I know is that I sure don't understand the various complex issues which all the experts debate. I would think that it would be more simplistic if an oil purchase and shipment contract between competing suppliers and competing refineries dictated the price. The refined gasoline would then be distributed to the competing multiple retailers where prices are dictated by actual demand. But of course that would cut out the several layers of the market in which speculative buying and selling seek their minute by minute fortunes before your hand touches the fuel pump nozzle.

Using the "complex" arguments and global market structure is comparable to accepting that it would make sense when you go in a grocery store, buy a loaf of bread and the price you pay by the time you pick it up and go to the register can go 20 percent higher. This would be explained because the price is dictated by a group of people under no regulation and have no direct interest in the store, the farmer, the mill or the bakery are at the register bidding on the "futures" which determine bread prices based on speculation driven by rumors and manipulated by those who will gain more in that 10 minutes by predicting wheat supply may be disrupted and baking capacity could be off line momentarily next week. Additionally, the store has a stockpile of bread in the back estimated to be 3 days worth. How that changed the price of the bread that was already made, bought and placed on the store shelf compares to how the gasoline at the local station went up in price while just sitting in the tank.