Because gasoline futures are on the rise this week ? they’ve already risen 13 cents per gallon this week over forecasts of a colder winter forecast, an unexpected dip in U.S. stockpiles of crude, and news of OPEC trying to cut crude production. Crude oil futures have risen about $4.60 per barrel this week.
There is a lag between movements in the futures price of gasoline and that movement being reflected at the pumps. So when gasoline prices rise at the pump ? next week, “too close” to the election ? look for the tinfoil hats to say it’s proof Bush and his Big Oil cronies were deliberately manipulating the price of gasoline just to sway the election. Don’t expect them to acknowledge market changes affecting the supply of (U.S. stockpile, OPEC production) and demand for (heating oil) crude.
