Editorial: Fuel for conspiracy fires

Monday, Oct. 16, 2006 | 7:27 a.m.

N otice that drop in the price at the pump?

Some suspect it's an October surprise engineered by Republicans hoping for a last-minute positive - The economy is improving! - to swing voters before the Nov. 7 election.

The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has dropped 58 cents from this time last year.

That's quite a dramatic slide, which may be why a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday came up with this: 17 percent of Americans believe the main reason gasoline prices have dropped is because of political reasons such as the upcoming election. And that was the top answer in the survey.

Experts in such matters say no, it's not a conspiracy. They cite favorable conditions that have caused oil prices to drop and some basic economic principles - large supplies and less demand since we're past the summer driving season.

But it's not hard to understand why much of the public has come to a different conclusion than the experts. As of last Monday the average price in the nation dropped 39 cents over the previous month to $2.26 a gallon.

Nevadans didn't receive as big a benefit. The average price in Nevada, according to a AAA survey released Tuesday, was $2.64. While that's a 32-cent drop from September, it's still the highest average price in the continental United States, according to AAA. But that may be attributed to Nevada's geographic problem - it's a long haul from the refineries.

So we're pleased that gasoline prices are going down - on average a gallon of regular unleaded in Las Vegas was $2.53, a 34-cent decrease from September, which is even better than the statewide average - but we won't hold our breath.

We wouldn't be surprised if some price gouging occurred previously, when prices dramatically increased, but it is hard to imagine that this latest dip is part of some elaborate conspiracy. (They could do better than this, couldn't they?) Instead, it seems to be the tumultuous nature of the industry, as in recent years fuel prices have been on a roller coaster - a year ago the national average was $2.84, two years ago it was $1.98.

What was two years ago? Oh, yeah. The 2004 presidential election. Now that's something that should add gasoline to a conspiracy theorist's fire.