There's a lot that goes into retail pricing of gasoline. But generally the gas station itself doesn't make a lot on it. I think the average is like 6% or so of the sale price is the gas station revenue. The rest is up the chain, distributor, wholesaler, refiner, producer, and of course tax. (I just filled up at $3.73, btw, and I'm only 100 miles from Peter, so he's getting gouged. But he is getting gouged in no small part because of Sandy, and the fact that the distribution chain in the NY area took a beating.) In the US oil companies are supposed to be constrained on regional prices for anti-trust reason. But they aren't always controlled to the point where that helps the consumer. You'll notice that the highest prices, other things being equal, are the service areas on the highways, and the gas stations immediately off the highways. They capture the traffic that can't or won't take the time to price shop. Generally the further you get from the highways the cheaper the price. In the cities there are sometimes higher prices because there are limits on locating new gas stations, and so even though there are a lot of people and a lot of stations, in practice competition can be somewhat limited unless people are willing to drive all over the place to price shop. Gas stations set their final price based in part on what the station just down the street is doing. If just down the street is out of sight, then they can get away with a bit higher price.
@Loppan Torkel regarding rear wheel drive: Each drive configuration has specific advantages and disadvantages. I personally prefer rear drive. And I live in an area with snow and hills. The advantages of RWD are better performance, better front to rear weight distribution of the car for better handling, better braking, no torque steer in hard acceleration, and it is generally a more rugged installation, for hard use (which is why cops overwhelmingly are not abandoning the few RWD cars in the US). The disadvantages of RWD is that it weighs more than FWD, and it is bulkier. And so RWD cars get lower gas mileage and for small cars the FWD package really frees up a lot of space in the passenger compartment.
It was not the poor weather performance of FWD that drove RWD from the market, it was fuel economy. That and small car interiors really needed the space.
That said, you will note that in modern cars the higher you go up in price, and the higher you go up in performance, the more RWD cars you will find and the fewer FWD cars. That should tell you something right there. I don't believe Rolls, Mercedes, BMW, make any front drive cars. However All Wheel Drive cars are taking over from RWD in the highest end performance and price-point.
There aren't that many manufacturers left that haven't switched to front wheel drive.
that's a great line. 
