Shouldn't gas prices be a LOT lower?

When oil prices go up, the gasoline distributors immediately raise the price, because they say it costs more for the oil and, therefore, for the gas. And, this is BS, because it takes several months for the oil being sold on the market today to make it to the gas pumps

But, when the price of oil goes down, that's when the oil companies say, "Oh, but today's price reduction isn't going to affect the market for several months. You're paying for gas now that was made from more expensive oil."

Also, when you're looking at the price of oil on the market, that's not oil in today's money. That's oil futures, meaning that people are betting on what the price of oil is going to be in the next several months. If the oil future is for, say, February and someone buys it for $90 a barrel, that means they must purchase that barrel of oil in February for that $90, regardless of what the spot price is. If it's less than $90, they make a profit. And, if it's more than $90, they take a loss.

Of course, if there's some kind of event that causes that February oil future to shoot up to $100, they can sell their $90 future at that $100 at any time and still make a profit. But, come February, someone's going to pay $90 for that barrel of oil, regardless of what it's actually worth.

The price of crude is only one factor. It still has to be transported, refined and stored (and federal/state taxes imposed). Those costs have not gone down.

Not sure where you live, but you should move to Springfield, MO Gas right now is $2.86 to $2.89 per gallon for regular unleaded.