INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Democrats didn't get enough votes to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Thursday. Supporters said that would have reduced prices at the pump.

These days, a stop at any gas station provokes complaints and Mick Parker's heard them all.

"I think the biggest misconception is, first of all, that the gasoline retailer is making tons and tons of profit because it simply isn't true," insisted Parker.

Parker buys gas for his car the same way everyone does. But he also buys it by the tanker because he runs the 184 stores in the Village Pantry chain. He needs 350,000 gallons every day to keep them all going.

A tanker delivers gas to the Village Pantry at 96th and Lantern Road every 20 hours. Parker said the cost of buying a load of fuel can be $30,000. Parker said gas stations make only a few cents a gallon even at today's prices.

A lot of what is seen at Village Pantry is influenced by what its managers see at the competitors down the street. They survey prices every day.

"Pricing strategy might be to match the station across the street. It might be to be a penny below the station across the street. We determine a pricing strategy for each store," said Parker.

At midnight on June 27, one Village Pantry charged $3.96 for a gallon of regular unleaded. Its competitors were $3.97. Later that day, crude oil set a record. So, by midnight on the 28th, Village Pantry and its competitors were up to $4.15 a gallon.

Parker said their pricing strategy assesses the market conditions, allows the company to make sure it can meet the charges of its suppliers and still satisfy consumer demands.

"The oil being pulled out of the ground today is being purchased off of contracts. It's been refined. There really should be no direct correlation to the change of a barrel of oil and a gallon of gas on any given day. There's lots and lots of other factors in that," said Parker.

He said that's how they set the price for holidays. They don't charge more just because people have the day off.

"That's an old wives tale," said Parker. "And, I think this year you probably saw gas go down over the holidays."

Parker's right. On July 3, one station charged $4.08 for a gallon of regular unleaded. The next day, on the Fourth of July, it was a penny cheaper.

"You know, we can see our costs go up and down very similar to what the consumer sees. My cost might go up eight cents tonight. I don't know," said Parker.

Village Pantry buys fuel at what's called the "rack rate". It's the industry's wholesale price. The rate can change every day just like the retail prices at the pump. Then, Village Pantry pays a delivery fee of not quite two cents a gallon. It also pays a fee every a customer swipes a credit card.

The "credit card interchange" fee, as it's called, is what the card companies charge for processing a purchase. Parker said it's the fundamental issue around the profitability of gas.

"We pay roughly eight cents a gallon for each gallon processed," said Parker. "So, if we gross 12 cents a gallon, and you spend two cents in transportation, you're down to ten cents.  And, you spend eight cents in credit card processing...my net profit is two cents a gallon."

That's why Village Pantry is working so hard to remodel its convenience stores.

"Without the (convenience) store, you could not survive on gasoline alone. There's just no way," said Parker.

So, Parker said, when you hear of oil company profits, don't blame your neighborhood gas station.

"The retail fuel guys are not the ones that are making all the money," said Parker. "It's a tough business. It really is a tough business."

Parker said he expects to see a move toward lower prices for customers who pay with cash. But he acknowledges that's not a perfect solution because people rarely carry enough cash to fill their tanks at today's prices.

Report by Eric Halvorson, WISH. Edited by Andrew Bonner.