(reply put here - the riff-raff free zone)
Micro, was not disagreeing with your post.
The conditions that you lay out have existed for many years - well before the jihadii usurper stealing/buying the office he occupies.
Simply pointing out that the price RISE since then has been totally due to dollar devaluation.
Not only do boutique blends, differing for every block in a city and time of day, drive up the cost due to loss of economics of scale - they destroy the fungible nature of gasoline, making it impossible to 'trade' from areas of high supply to those of low supply. Competition is ELIMINATED - the only real 'cost control' factor in any legitimate economy.
There is another issue also that adds anywhere from 20 cents to 50 cents per gallon (possibly more) - and that is the elimination of MTBE from being the most cost effective (AND SAFE) oxygenate additive for blending. (MTBE, btw is made from natural gas - very efficiently, i might add). Instead - the inasanity of devoting our bounteous farmland to growing a crop TO BE BURNED (corned) at ridiculous prices has been substituted - ie. ethanonl is now the 'oxygenate additive'.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good ...
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