PETROLPHOBIA (Page 21/66)
USFiero AUG 05, 10:56 PM

quote
Originally posted by Me in May this year:
$3.77 at my station of reference.




Greetings from Myrtle Beach. The wife and I took an impulsive trip down here to soak up some rays. Gas psrices have fallen in the last couple days, with the station referenced above $3.78 and gas as cheap as $3.65 on our way here. I wonder if this is a seasonal shift, or if all of the fussin and fumin' accomplished something?

Of course, the damage is done. Food costs are up, people have changed their driving habits and the auto industry has ground to a halt.. at least in the US. The Fed is afraid to do anything with interest rates (they need to just leave them alone anyway) and at least the speculators have cooled their bidding on oil to bring the cost per barrel down instead of jacking things up.
USFiero AUG 07, 10:42 AM
Well, leaving MB we fueled up at a station while the attendant was lowering the price on the board from $3.65 to $3.60. Saw prices as low as $3.57 on the highway (dubious quality, I'm sure). We filled on mid-grade since the Eclipse didn't like running at 80 MPH+ in North Carolina on the way down. The speed limits are 70 MPH in much of South Carolina and North Carolina, but the highways in SC are in rough shape (like VA), so I filled on mid-grade for the trip up ($3.70/gal) and the Mitsu got better gas mileage and didn't give any hesitation/pre-ignition rattle at >80 MPH like it did to Myrtle Beach. Keep in mind we ran the AC constantly and the outside temp was in the high 90's both ways. In spite of that I got about 28 MPG for the trip back. I didn't bother to check the mileage down, but the gas guage was higher when we got back than when we got there.
USFiero AUG 13, 11:55 AM
Last Saturday a local grocery gas station had a promo $3.49 a gallon. When you buy certain items, they tack on additional gas discounts good for up to 15 Gallons of gas. I got an additional .10 off per gallon (10 gallons in the Fiero, 5 in the spare gas can). Yesterday, I saw prices as low as $3.54. As low as.... I can't believe I'd settle for a sub-three dollar per gallon price right now. I am changing a lot of long term plans as it is. Getting back to $2 a gallon would do a lot for me, but it would probably put our nation back into a laiziz fare attitude about alternate energy. How many spikes in petroleum prices do we need to endure to get our energy priorities straight?
maryjane AUG 13, 02:33 PM
Get ready for them to start going back up. As I stated in another thread, as soon as demand and prices drop, American drivers will start driving per their old habits again.
Oil prices surge on weak inventory report.
Wednesday August 13, 2:21 pm ET
By Kenneth Musante, CNNMoney.com staff writer


Oil prices soared Wednesday after the government reported a surprisingly sharp decline in the nation's petroleum inventories.
U.S. crude for September delivery was up $4.37 to $117.38 a barrel in electronic trading. Oil had traded up just 88 cents to $113.89 a barrel just before the report's release at 10:35 ET.

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The Energy Department said crude supplies fell by 400,000 barrels during the week ended Aug. 8. The report also said gasoline supplies fell by 6.4 million barrels, while distillates, which are used to make diesel fuel, fell by 1.7 million barrels.

Economists polled by Platts, a division of McGraw Hill Cos., had expected the government to report a 500,000 barrel rise in crude stocks, a 2.2 million barrel decline in gasoline stockpiles, and a rise in distillates of 1.9 million barrels.

Refineries were operating at 85.9% of capacity, down from last week, and a sharper drop than the 86.25% predicted by the Platts poll.

Concerns that high fuel prices are cutting into demand have sent crude prices sharply lower in recent weeks.

Oil has been trending lower since the end of July and is down about $32, or 21%, from its all-time high.

However, the larger-than-expected decline in supplies suggested that demand may not have been as low as many investors had thought.

"This suggests that refiners are cutting back and that should bring gasoline and, to a lesser extent, distillates back up," said Michael Lynch, president of Stretegic Energy and Economic Research in Massachusetts.

The reduced supplies came as fighting continued in a strategically important region of Eastern Europe.

Georgian conflict: Fighting between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia continued Wednesday, despite a cease-fire brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. According to reports, Russian troops raided the strategically important city of Gori and pressed on in the direction of Tbilisi, the nation's capital.

"The combination of the inventory [decline] and the war in Georgia gave people the incentive to buy [oil]," said Lynch.

Georgia serves as an important hub for transporting oil and natural gas between Europe and Asia.

The oil market has largely ignored threats to international supplies over the past few weeks as investors were more concerned about demand. Georgia's largest oil pipeline had been shut down before the fighting began due to a fire along its Turkish span, and worries about supply disruption failed to significantly rattle investors a day earlier.

However Tom Orr, head of research for Weeden & Co. said he believes the oil market has been undervalued, and expressed concern about a disruption in supplies due to the conflict between Russia and Georgia that flared up this week.

"It amazes me how little attention crude oil traders have paid to the conflict between Russia and Georgia. A month ago crude would have shot up $5 or maybe even $10 per barrel if it looked like we might lose a million barrels per day of supply," wrote Orr in a research report.

Fuel-price pinch: Many investors believe the high price of fuel has been taking a toll on U.S. consumers.

The most recent evidence comes in a report on retail sales released Wednesday by the Commerce Department.

The report showed that retail sales had fallen slightly in July, but that sales of gasoline had grown nearly a percent due to higher prices at the pump.

"You strip out the gasoline and there's not much growth in what [consumers] are buying," said Rachel Ziemba, energy analyst at RGE Monitor.

Demand forecast: Many investors also believe the rising price of crude oil and gasoline has begun to cut demand in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer.

Gas prices remain more than a dollar higher than where they were 12 months ago. However, the average price of retail gas in the United States has fallen more than 8% to $3.787 gallon at the pump over the past 27 days, according to motorist group AAA.

Prices have fallen below the psychological barrier of $4 a gallon in all but 8 states, according to AAA data. But that might be causing a slight uptick in demand.

"With the prices being down at the pump, I think people are starting to drive a little bit more," said Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures in California.

Yep, oil is back up today.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-13-2008).]

USFiero AUG 20, 01:25 PM
Last night up in York County I saw fuel for $3.39 a gallon. It's all over town under $3.49. Still, that's close to post-Katrina spiked prices. Sometimes I think we are just being toyed with.
maryjane AUG 20, 01:39 PM
Yep--just about $3.50 here, but that's just $.50 lower than the $4/gal everone was so upset about. I do not see oil ever dropping below $100/bbl again, until/unless we have a viable alternative, and even then, because the emerging markets are so far behind the curve, I believe the Chinas and Indias of the world will keep the demand up enough that the price/bbl is still going to be relatively high for the forseeable future. (I've said this many times here on PFF alrerady)

The price for oil may [i]dip[/] below $100/bbl for a very short time, but it won't stay there for long. People who think it will go to the $60-$75/bbl range and stay there are just guilty of wishful thinking.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-20-2008).]

USFiero AUG 21, 04:38 PM

quote
Originally posted by me on this date two years ago:
Another look back to a year ago. Oil prices actually dropped and gas has fallen to $2.68 locally. Again, I am relieved. Don't think there was that much fat in the economy to sustain $3 a gallon very long. I have made cuts in spending and more are on the way. Don't drive as much as I used to either, but still plenty.



Unless the US dollar gains strength, the Chinese government deregulates the Yuan, or we aggressively pursue alternate energy and domestic sources (which I think we have and are purposely holding back), I think this will become both an actual financial and psychological drag on our nation. And when the US ain't happy...
USFiero OCT 03, 01:58 PM

quote
By LoaferGT today in in this thread
Just was in at Shell throwing some gas in the car and the lady at the pump asked me if I wanted to fill up as gas was set to rise almost 15 cents a litre this afternoon should the bailout proceed. Just a heads up for you planning on doing any driving this weekend.


I just gassed up at a Shell for $3.38 a gallon. Five cents off Regular on Thursdays.

[This message has been edited by USFiero (edited 10-03-2008).]

Fredbearstalksme OCT 03, 02:54 PM
Gas dropped to $2.94 here in Southwest Missouri. Too bad my truck takes diesel. $3.80.

Fred
Hulki U. My-BFF OCT 03, 04:02 PM

quote
Originally posted by Fredbearstalksme:

Gas dropped to $2.94 here in Southwest Missouri. Too bad my truck takes diesel. $3.80.

Fred



Mine's diesel too, Fred. But the cheapest I've gotten so far is $3.99