Crude Oil Prices

Commodities can be tough to get a handle on, and oil prices are not exempt from this difficulty.  The correlation between the price of the barrel and the price at the pump is something that many speculate about.  It can be difficult to understand how oil that was just traded today, can have a price which affects the gasoline already in the ground that you will pump today, when that gas was already contracted for and contracted prices determined.  Future prices would seem to be going up for the gas I will be buying next week.  Others feel with the influx of India & China in the market for oil, this is really a supply and demand issue.  Should be great fodder for election debates and we will have to see how it shakes out.