The price of gasoline blew past the $4 per-gallon barrier in many places in recent days.

Truth be told, it was already much higher than that in some parts of the country like California, where it tops $5.

But residents in Superiorland and beyond are having to relearn lessons first encountered back in 2008, the beginning of what ultimately became known as the Great Recession: Gas is a highly regulated product, in terms of composition, additives and the such, but not for price.

What you pay at the pump is market driven — period.

It’s rare anymore that a day goes by in The Mining Journal newsroom where calls from irate residents aren’t received.

People feel local service stations are gouging them and using the mess in Ukraine as an excuse.

We don’t believe that’s true.

From what we understand, gasoline isn’t the cash cow most people think it is. Stations clean up on their fountain drinks, chips, candy bars and coffee. With gas, though, not so much.

Exactly what government can and should do about all of this is unclear. President Joe Biden has pledged to draw down the nation’s strategic reserve of petroleum and that should help, a little.

And one expects the war in Ukraine will end at some point, lessoning tensions from that quarter.

In the meantime, there is little the average resident can do beyond what we did in 2008: conserve where possible.

Buying less of a product is, after all, one good way to drive down prices.