I am in the oil / gas industry and I have to tell you that its not the price of a barrel that determines the price of the gallon you buy. The barrel price determines what the refinery pays for it. The refining business has been historically poor. When prices are high and demand gets low (2 yrs ago) margins are small....this makes refineries a poor source of income for oil companies so they shut them down. Now that the world is awash in crude (domestic, Saudis, Iran in the game) refineries are seeing better margins...its simple really and everyone of you would do the same...spend years at low margins and lower demand (people turn down the heat and drive less when energy is expensive) then when things turn around enjoy a relatively decent margin. if refineries cannot make a profit they close...too many have in the last 15 years...
then throw in transportation of the product, handling, storage, insurance, etc...
Its coming down...never as fast as it goes up but its coming down...
The price of a barrel means nothing to you and me but its what they talk about on Bloomberg so that's what we know...there is a whole other side of petroleum production that determines the final price of a gallon
PS: a barrel is 44 gallons not 55 for those of you doing dollar / gallon math.