price gouging -- don't believe it

i've heard a lot of talk and angryness over the price of gasoline recently... people are blaming big oil for price gouging. now i'm not 100 percent sure how the price of crude oil is determined on the open market, but i do know that oil companies do not set the prices. I'm doing some more research into the issue and I will be posting a thorough explanation as soon as i'm able to eloquate it and point to some sources... i do suspect that as more refinery capacity comes back online in the wake of katrina, gasoline prices will ease a little bit. over the past two days gasoline has gone up 24 cents in my hometown. but the price of crude oil on the global market has not gone up enough to match... so 24 cents per gallon, 42 gallons per barrel of crude--a matching increase would be around $10 per barrel, which would put us close to $80 per barrel, which it's not at yet. so other factors are in play raising the price of gasoline. i'll get to the bottom of it and let you know...