Who knows why gas went up 7 cents in the Lowcountry

Image by Flickr user _ESImage by 20090131-gas-pump.jpg

Trying to figure out why our local price of gas has gone up, The Post and Courier has a piece interviewing a local Exxon station owner, Bob Walsh.

Read more stories on this subject in our gas topic page.The background is this: Demand hasn't really gone up, the price of oil hasn't changed much, so, as Katy Stech writes: "So what could possibly explain the rise in gas prices?"

Just don't read it looking for too many answers. The finger is kinda pointed at commodity traders, who are blamed for introducing volatility in the price of oil, but there are no real answers to be found, only a roundup of the known unknowns.

Still, it's good background: Go check it out.

Oh, and it's worth reminding not to get mad at the gas station owners for price increase: The owners generally make less per gallon as the price goes up, as most goes to the gas companies and taxes.

As for my take: I'd speculate the recent price increase might have to do with problems refining or delivering the oil once it's been pumped. This article from the summer of 2008 talks about how a lack of oil refineries (which turn crude oil into gas) was blamed for much of last year's price volatility.

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