NEW YORK – As crude oil prices drop to 19-month lows, some consumers are questioning why retail gasoline prices aren’t falling as fast. The reality is that there is more to pump prices than the cost of crude oil, reports the Associated Press.

“Besides taxes and the costs of refining, distributing and marketing, there are factors such as local competition among gas stations," the news service reports.

"If gasoline costs me a dollar a gallon, and my competition down the street is selling it for 89 cents, my customer doesn't care what I paid for it," Richard Oneslager, NACS vice chairman and treasurer, told the Associated Press in a story that appeared in hundreds of newspapers over the weekend. Oneslager is president of Denver-based Balmar Petroleum.

While crude oil prices have dropped $10 a barrel this year, gasoline prices are down to a lesser extent – 13 cents per gasoline, reports the AP.

That’s because it can take as long as 12 weeks for wholesale price changes to be passed through at the pump, the news service notes, referencing data from the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Retailers aren't making their price decisions on the price of crude oil," John Eichberger, NACS vice president of government relations, told the AP, noting that they instead look at replacement costs.

"We don't care about anything except what that tank the truck just brought in cost," Oneslager said.

It’s also important to note that most stores are small businesses, the news service adds. “Contrary to what many drivers think, the huge (branded oil company) signs above your local gas stations don't necessarily mean they're run by big oil companies – a lot of them are franchised. Jeff Sundstrom of AAA estimates that over 80 percent of the nation's gas stations are run by individuals or small to medium-sized businesses.”

Eichberger told the AP that numbers from OPIS show that the average gross margin for gasoline was 13.76 cents per gallon in 2006, meaning that retailers netted only a few cents per gallon.

So who did make money off gasoline? Credit card companies, for one, noted Eichberger. “Because of credit card transaction fees, the credit card industry profited more from gasoline sales last year than gas stations did,” he said.

The news service adds, while prices are declining, drivers shouldn’t get too comfortable – the spring transition to summer-blend fuel is a few weeks away.

To address the issues related to the spring transition, NACS will release its annual “Gas Price Kit” in early February.