For regional prices you may well be right, I can't say, but I can say for local prices that those are set based on local competition, and each major brand shops all the stores around it and reports current prices to headquarters who then runs the numbers and instructs the station manager what price to set for that day.
A major driving factor is also supply chain - it is "critical" that refineries be kept running a close to 100% capacity, to maximize efficiency. If the refinery is producing at 100% it has to have someplace for the output to go, tank farms, which then have to be kept "not full" by shipping the gasoline to the stations and topping them off. If the gas is not selling fast enough to keep the tank farm empty enough for the output of the refinery to keep flowing they will drop prices to stimulate buying and relieve the backup.
It's a constant balancing act to keep the gas flowing.
I worked at the retail end the pipe for 4 years.
|