> Can anybody suggest why normal competition isn't working here? One would expect providers of an identical product to push their prices down to the minimum profitable level to compete with others doing the same.
Is there evidence it is not working? Ramping up production and refining capacity takes time. Barriers to entry might be higher too due to drastic increases specifically in the hard, manual labor required for gas to get to the pumps. And of course, simple inflation would cause nominal prices to rise.
These profit margins do not look they have spiked unreasonably. A little spike is to be expected as there is a lag between when demand ramps up and supply catches up.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/SHEL/shell/profit-...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/BP/bp/profit-margi...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/XOM/exxon/profit-m...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CVX/chevron/net-pr...