What are these mismatched trends between gasoline "prices at the pump" and oil "costs per barrel" (graphs of each are shown in the following web links) telling us about how demand and supply work in the market? http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EER_EPMRU_PF4_Y35NY_DPG&f=A http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=RWTC&f=A

What the two graphs, one depicting the price variations in the cost of a barrel of crude oil and the other the price per gallon consumers "pay at the pump," illustrate is that costs largely track each other, but not absolutely. There are multiple reasons for the variations. Among these reasons is the distinction between the price charged for a barrel of oil and the costs associated with refining petroleum products and transporting them to distribution outlets. Oil is drilled from the ground or, increasingly, from the process of extracting it from shale. Oil drilled from the ground occurs in regions around the world, from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran in the Middle East, to Indonesia in Southeast Asia, to the Niger Delta in West Africa, to Venezuela, to the plains of the American Midwest. Each of these geographically disparate regions presents its own challenges in extracting and moving oil. Oil is transported throughout very long pipelines and in ships and trucks. And, it is largely useless until subjected to the refining process, which turns it into gasoline, among other petroleum-related products.
Since the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s, the price of oil has had less to do with supply-and-demand than with international politics and efforts by the main cartel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to control the price of a barrel of oil. OPEC is a multinational organization that represents the interests of the oil-producing countries listed above. Unfortunately for OPEC, it has only been as formidable an actor on the international stage as its tenuous cohesiveness has allowed. Different members support or oppose limits on oil production according to their own economic and strategic interests, and those interests often clash. Another major issue regarding oil prices involves speculation. Speculators treat oil as the commodity that it is, which means the cost of a barrel of oil may reflect the extent of trading in it as much as any quantifiable measure of demand.
Whereas the price of oil is determined by a number of factors, including those discussed above, the price of a gallon of gasoline reflects variations that both track those of the crude oil industry and the level of demand at any given time. A decrease in demand for gasoline attributable to consumer spending habits (in effect, people may drive less often and for shorter distances when prices climb, or drive more often and longer distances when the warm weather driving season occurs) as well as developments in automotive technologies that result in more efficient engines influence gasoline prices. Countries with refining industries like the United States may enjoy lower gasoline prices than countries without such capacities. Iran is a major oil producer but lacks refining capacity. Consequently, it exports crude oil to India, which refines it and ships it back. That entails costs that may be reflected in the price Iranian citizens pay at the pump—unless the Iranian government artificially subsidizes gasoline prices as a means of minimizing friction between it and the public. Within the United States, gasoline prices vary depending upon distance between market and refinery and its costs to transport gasoline through pipelines and by tanker-truck.
As noted, the two graphs reflect a close relationship between the prices of oil and gasoline. That is to be expected given that gasoline is derived from oil and both certainly are tied to the supply-and-demand equation. There are so many variables involving the economics of both industries, however, that occasional divergences between the two are inevitable.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Ignoring-Fundamentals-Speculation-Has-Been-Driving-Oil-Prices.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/tosv.html?url=L25ld3MvYXJ0aWNsZXMvMjAxNy0wOS0xOS9vcGVjLWZpbmRzLXN1Y2Nlc3MtYXQtbGFzdC1idXQtb2lsLXMtcmV2aXZhbC1tYXktYmUtc2hvcnQtbGl2ZWQtajdzN2U0Zmk/&uuid=619cb030-9632-11e8-98b4-c7e756b49da3&vid=

https://www.iaee.org/iaee2017/submissions/ExtendedAbs/8137-The%20Effect%20of%20Speculation%20in%20Futures%20Market%20on%20Oil%20Price-Extended%20Abstract.pdf

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