Are oil companies lowering gas prices to squash alternative fuels?
Another conspiracy. If the prices go up, the oil companies are trying to screw us. If the prices go down the oil companies are trying to screw us. Oil is a commodity, like potatoes, and if demand goes up relative to supply, the price goes up. (Futures trading complicates this because of people guessing where the price is going to be in the future.) The oil companies do not control the commodities market – they just take the commodity and add value to it by refining it. Another complication is that there is a time lag between when a future contract is settled and when gasoline actually comes out of the refinery.
