Local gasoline distributors and local gas stations, yes, they can.

Local gas stations have no control over what they're charged by the distributors, and the distributors have to pay whatever the going rate is for the final refined product, and that rate is largely based on the barrel price of oil, and the price of oil is pretty much suppy and demand. As with any commodity (like shares of stocks), price can be very volatile depending on what's happening with supply and demand. It's just the nature of how markets work.