>One would expect providers of an identical product to push their prices down to the minimum profitable level to compete with others doing the same. That is no

>One would expect providers of an identical product to push their prices down to the minimum profitable level to compete with others doing the same. That is not a definition of "normal competition", unless production capacity is free and infinite and barriers to entry and exit are zero. Transportation fuels have almost zero short-run price elasticity; so of course supply shocks cause swings in prices.