Among the most visible prices that consumers may see on a daily
basis are the ones found on the large signs at the gasoline
stations alongside our streets and highways. The biggest single
factor affecting gasoline prices is the cost of crude oil, the
main raw material for gasoline production, which accounts for
well over half the price of gasoline at the pump. But what is
behind the price of crude oil? This week the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) launched a new web-based
assessment highlighting key factors that can affect crude oil
prices called "Energy and Financial Markets: What Drives Crude
Oil Prices?" Understanding oil price movements and their
underlying drivers was the impetus in creating this new product.
Oil prices have fluctuated a great deal in recent years,
reaching over $140 per barrel in the summer of 2008, then
falling by about $100 in subsequent months before rebounding.
Gasoline prices paid at the pump experienced similar
fluctuations during this period. EIA's traditional covera