Fuel suppliers said the cost is a simple matter of supply and demand. Okla. There are two fewer gasoline refineries in the United States, and many refineries were making heating oil for the northeast during the winter and were unable to build up supplies of gasoline, Johnson said. Supply problems are made worse by special fuel requirements, such as lower emissions or less volatility, he said. All the different blends are just harder to produce and harder to transport,'' Johnson said. Johnson said there is no way of knowing when prices might come down, since it is uncertain when the problems might be remedied.
Higher prices have little to do with the price of oil.
We're not seeing much change at the wellhead,'' said Levert Gillman, president of Travelers Oil in Borger. But the White House alluded to the possibility, saying President Bush will not act to stop any increase even if prices top that amount. The worst may already be over, because refiners are getting caught up'' with supplies, said Phil Flynn, senior energy analyst for Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. The bad news for consumers is we don't have one extra drop of gas to fall back on. The Associated Press contributed to this report.