system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If oil is near $40 a barrel why is gas still almost $3.00 a gallon in the US?
gpt
100 students need blue crayons. And blue crayons cost 1 dollar from the store but you cannot buy them at the store. Someone in your class has a ton of blue crayons and sells them at $3.00. 

Another guy also has crayons and wants to start selling. The new seller realizes that the people who first bought the crayon have already gotten back in line after they used up their crayon. Once he sees that both he and the original seller can sell crayons at $3.00 and still receive the same amount of customers the new guy doesn't have to compete to sell the same amount as the other guy. 

Once demand is high enough (gas reaching a point of necessity) you don't need to lower your price. 

Another factor is general population wealth. As some people have pointed out. California gas prices are way higher than middle-of-nowhere Nebraska. You can sell a guy who has $200 something for $20 but a guy who has $40 will only buy it if you sell it for $5.