Ok, I am a liberal arts and humanities kind of guy. Mathematics of an order higher than arithmetic can trigger feelings of anxiety and inadequacy.
However even my limited faculties have detected a 50% collapse in the cost of octane as a component of gasoline. That beloved constituent of gasoline that makes it burn more efficiently, or hotter, or cleaner or at least more expensively just doesn't keep pace with the price of oil or gas!
My neighbourhood ARCO here in suburban Los Angeles was selling gasoline a year ago at say $2.00, $2.10 and 2.20 per gallon depending on the octane level.
This week that station is selling gas at $4.49, $4.59 and $4.69 per gallon, the 3 prices based on the same rationale.
Notice something funny?
Octane prices haven't gone up. Relative to the other constituent parts of gasoline, octane's price has fallen dramatically.