That's the finding of a report just issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), according to this press release. "The Federal Trade Commission today issued a Bureau of Economics staff report examining trends in the petroleum industry and how they have affected gasoline prices between 2005 and early 2011. It concludes that while a broad range of factors influence the price of gasoline, worldwide crude oil prices continue to be the main driver of what Americans pay at the pump." You can find a link to the report there as well.