The mystery of gasoline prices

To the editor:

I had the understanding that the retail price of gasoline was based on the current price of crude oil. If I am not mistaken, the price of crude oil has been coming down for the past few days (down almost $2 a barrel Dec. 27). As I drive around Cape Girardeau, I notice that the price of gasoline has gone up. How can that be? Some retailers have seen fit to stick it to the customer again. Some stations have raised the price 6 cents a gallon.

I was in Jackson and noticed that the price was still $1.46 per gallon and $1.49 per gallon with no increase in price. Why is gasoline higher in Cape Girardeau than in Jackson on the average? Maybe the gasoline from Cape Girardeau comes from Texas via tanker truck, therefore making it higher than Jackson. I can only hope that the customers from Cape Girardeau will start asking the same question. Some stations near the Southeast Missouri State University campus are 2 cents higher than on Kingshighway. Maybe they have a captive audience.

JAMES WHITNEL, Cape Girardeau