My father complains about gas prizes jerking around in one day in the range of 10ct/l (Germany). He sees it as tactic to rip off customers. Now I’m wondering, there are quite a few gas stations so competition shouldn’t be the problem. Now what is the reason for these jumps? I don’t really think they are related to either the oil prize or demand like people traveling to work or home, so I’m confused. There is simply no conspiracy of gas stations to rip off customers though these jumps are reality.
It might be possible that the gas stations are charging as much as they can, so long as enough people are pmping gas to keep the gas station full. during peak hours of traffic, it could be the case that there are large line-ups at gas stations. They can’t serve those waiting in line, so they figure they can shorten the lines and make more money by increasing prices.