FORT MYERS, Fla. - Each time a report is aired about the price of oil dropping, viewers will call or write wanting to know when gas prices will follow.

That change may not come for at least a week, and sometimes it might not come at all according to a local economist.

"When the price of oil changes on a daily basis those are forward prices. (What you see at the pump) is not an instantaneous reduction or raising," said Edison College professor Sammy Young.

Young said you have to look at what happened a week or so ago to see what is going to impact gasoline prices. When gas stations raise their prices, they are raising it based on the oil they've purchased and refined into gasoline. That price is usually different from the current market price for oil.

It may seem like a rise in the oil markets leads to an instant rise in prices at the pump, but Young attributes that to the continuous rise in oil prices over the last several months.

"Last week it was up to $147, now it is down to $130. We might not see a decrease for a week or so and it could only come down a few pennies because the change is very slight."

And he said the price of oil will easily rise, but not necessarily easily fall.