I thought the price of oil determines gas prices?

This is something that really bugs me about how many people view economics and business in general. Supply and Demand is used to explain everything. Which is total nonsense. Supply and Demand explains one thing and one thing only ie price equilibrium.

What is missing from the Supply and Demand argument are the component parts of price. In simple terms, these are Fixed Costs, Variable Costs and Profit.

The bit that's missing, in your above example, is the desire for PROFIT!

There is always a lag time between oil production and refining into gasoline and other products. But gas retailers always jack up prices quickly following oil price increases, and only gradually and begrudgingly reduce them when the price comes down, so they benefit on both increases and decreases in the oil price.

OK.. Heres the thing.. (Are you stting comfortably?) Supply and demand are the starting point with oil as it should be. But there are the political aspirations of the supplier to be considered. For example, Saudi arabia wants some new missile system from the west. So they cut production and the price goes up till they get it.. Of course they would never do that and Americans would never submit to such blackmail 😂 Then there is the taxation by the importing government, monumental in Europe. Less in Australia and lower still in America.. But... More recently the Covid pandemic has shown the oil industry has found a way to make more money. By reducing supply a little they can remove discounting from the equation and reduce the overall production cost as well.. Winner Winner for the companies. This reduction of supply and discounting is noticable in a number of consumer consumable industries currently. There is even talk of airlines actually reducing the number of flights on long haul routes to reduce discounting. (And the fuel price remaining high is part of that equation too)😂

It's all about profits. Oil companies are greedy. They will charge as much as they can at the gas pump.

A reminder:
Big Oil needs the cost of oil to be $90-100+ for it to become profitable to 'drill, baby drill.'

Supply and demand is one thing. However I believe it comes down to plane old greed. For example; a different price for cash vs credit, near me gas stations near each other often have the same price, but the very same brand with no stations near them will charge more (or less). I was told by a gas station/convenience store-owner that it is also based on the deliver distance to fill their tanks and they pass it off to the consumer.

Delay perhaps? It takes time to refine, transport and sell it, so today's gas prices may be based on the oil prices from a week or month ago.

yes, it is neither sup;y or demand it IS about
how much can we charge?

They have to transport raw crude to the refinery for processing. And after processing they have to transport to retailers. Don't forget federal and state taxes. EPA watches every step.

Oilprice.com is an excellent source.