problem is, gas stations claim to have paid the price at 147 so they are slow to decline the price untill they buy more gas. However when the stuff goes up in price, next day you will see those pricks out there raisin the #'s.
It's really not that they paid the $147 up until now, especially since the prices have been dropping. But, you will always see the prices drop more slowly than they rise. Say you buy a shipment of gas. The next day oil prices jump up. You already know that the next shipment you receive will be more expensive than the last one and you have to pay for them up front as well. So, you raise your prices to be sure that you can afford the next shipment(recall that individual stations don't make much on the gas itself at all as it is).
But, when prices go down, you have a bit more breathing room. With rising prices, stations tend to price fuel even more competitively since consumers tend to watch out for every penny when the price is as high as it was. But, when prices are falling, consumer don't tend to shop as competitively and will be more willing to pay a few pennies more than at a station several blocks away. This allows the stations to recover some of the lost income they didn't get when the prices were high and the profit margins extremely thin.
This is basically a regurgitation of a story I recalled reading on MSN I think. if I can find it, I'll post the link. This is just what I recalled from it.
