To drill or not to drill

Dear Editor,
To drill or not to drill, that is the question.  Whether ‘tis nobler in America to suffer the slings and arrows  of Democrats and Republicans or to take oil rigs against a sea of rising prices and by opposing end them.  I'll stop there as my memory fails.  I'm still waiting for someone to completely answer the question of why no drilling on sites where oil companies already have rights.  After success or failure there could we not then consider whether to make more land available for exploration ?
I also have to wonder why when oil takes any rise the pump price goes up, usually the next day and uniformly in many places.  Should not the reverse also be true ? When oil costs less should not pump price immediately go down?  You will hear that dealers had bought inventory based on higher price.  But remember  before first hike they already had inventory at lower price but retailed at the higher pump price. Maybe that extra profit should be applied against what was paid in the first instance. Example:
I buy oil at 1 x price.
World price goes up ... I charge more at pump but have paid 1x. My margin increases.
I buy oil at 2 x.  World price dips and I drop pump price (here I jest).. True my margin dips but isn't it offset by what I made on 1 x deal. What I say may amount to a load of cracker crumbs.
Perhaps one of the self proclaimed math wizards on the South end of town can straighten this out for me and others who wonder.
Jerry E. Waltrip
Pittsburg