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.
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.
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?
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).]
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.
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).]
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...
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).]
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.
Don,
That depends on how you want to figure it, I suppose. Oil is traded in US $. Right now, the $ has regained about 13% of it's value which all by itself, from Oil's high, accounts to about 20% of the drop in oil prices (about $30). Now take into account that as recently as 2 years ago, the dollar has devalued almost 43%, if that should reverse itself that could easily put oil at the $80 level, and that would still be at a value that the US $ is still below the Euro by about 15%.
On oil trades, exchange rates are very crucial to pricing, since that's how oil is priced throughout the world (in US $).
The question is, what will happen to the $? I personally don't see this bailout as helping it any unless it's very carefully managed by the feds (and I hold out little hope for that happening).
I guess my point is that things not related to supply and demand on oil are affecting the price more than anything else. Before you say that just can't happen, keep in mind we've seen wheat prices go from over $10/bushel less than 9 months ago to under $6 right now, a 40% drop. That also is greatly related to a strengthining dollar because cheap dollars makes it easier for other countries to buy our commodities, expensive dollars due the opposite.
Oil prices fall, and so does gas. I won't be dancing in the streets with gas well into the $2 per gallon range, but gas here can commonly be found for less than $2.90/gal
....and $2.29 now the cheapest in town. Lost my job last week. Oil is about half the highest price lately, all economies of scale. Everything's a bargain but no money to spend. How far does this go back? Osama's plan to usurp the economy by attacking the world trade center? Greedy speculator's? Sub Prime mortgage brokers? Natural cycles in growth and trade? Our government/the world government asleep at the wheel? The perfect storm? Now I get to apply for unemployment and a new job at home in my underwear.
[This message has been edited by USFiero (edited 10-27-2008).]
Finally, it has reached $1.99 here. The damage is done though. Still too high. What strikes me as so strange, how have we consumers put up with wildly fluctuating prices from this industry? Are we really that dependent on the industry that it dictates to us? (The answer to all of this is of course yes)
Between $1.85 ~ $1.89 here at the discount gas stations. Too bad the economy is in the bucket, but when prices on this common commodity was close to $4 a gallon I think it contributed the rapid decline.
Between $1.85 ~ $1.89 here at the discount gas stations. Too bad the economy is in the bucket, but when prices on this common commodity was close to $4 a gallon I think it contributed the rapid decline.
I think it was the nail in the coffin.
Interesting that we haven't heard anything on the investigation into price manipulation in the futures market and the ensuing regulations lately.
Fun having this thread pop back up and reading the posts from a few months ago.Down to 2.20 for quality 89 today. The 10% ethanol is around 2.05. I actually bought some gas and did a little joy riding in the Formula this afternoon.
Everything okay, Jazz? You suddenly seem to be a man of few words. Gas has been flucuating a little here, low in the last week of $1.54 and average $1.65 now. Wonder whats behind the (minor) spike...
What the heck. Oil was up a little, now heading down again world wide, but gas has crept up to $1.59-$1.63 and higher here and there. Certainly Israel blowing up Hamas can't be causing this. And the weather hasn't been that bad.
[This message has been edited by USFiero (edited 01-07-2009).]
In the last 7 days: Mideast is in turmoil again and Russia is at odds with Ukraine about supplies---Russia is cutting them off and the Russia/Ukraine thing is threatening to spill over into Europe. A hard winter in the US has strained production capacity due to high heating oil demand. OPEC has also cut production in an attempt to raise global crude prices.
In the last 7 days: Mideast is in turmoil again and Russia is at odds with Ukraine about supplies---Russia is cutting them off and the Russia/Ukraine thing is threatening to spill over into Europe. A hard winter in the US has strained production capacity due to high heating oil demand. OPEC has also cut production in an attempt to raise global crude prices.
gas is getting lower here where i live on vancouver island in canada. its 74.9 cents here a liter for regular and about 83.9 cents for premium gas per liter. not to sure how much that is in gallons. 4 liters per gallon or roughly? so about 3 bucks a gallon?
last summer was lame. it went up to $1.40 per liter for awhile.
We had a low of 1.35 a gal. here last friday, that had jumped to 1.65 over the weekend. Given the above information it will be interesting to see where prices go in the coming week.
It's easy to see how easily prices, related to supply and demand, can be manipulated by manipulating perception of supply.
And here we are jumping for joy when it reached $0.99 a litre. Or to put it in your terms about $2.63 US a US gallon. Didn't stay there long though. It is rising again is currently about $3.00 US gallon.
Global warming is causing a big demand on heating oil and other weather related energy supplies--which means less refining capacity for gasoline and diesel.. The Russia/Ukrain thing is still fluid. Gasoline dropped in price, so demand has increased overall--tho not astronomically.
I hope it goes WAY back up this summer again. We just bought my wife a sipping Civic, and I live close to work and get 40mpg on the bike. Last summer I was enjoying the increase in motorcycles on the road, the huge decrease in SuckUV's, and the general decrease in traffic overall. Also, people started taking notice of the idea of electric cars, and we were even able to breathe almost clean air once in a while here inside the Beltway. At that rate, $5 or $6/gal sounds about right to me. Of course many people went right back to their old ways once prices tanked, and bought more SuckUV's. WTH?
------------------ 88 Fiero GT - garage ornament '96 Talon TSi AWD - 11.9 @ 116, sorta broke again '90 Camaro IROC-Z twin-turbo - sorta broke again '85 Kawi 750 Turbo - sorta broke still '95 Kawi GPZ1100 - 10 second daily driver, heh
WTF prices shot up about a dime in less than five days here. The Refinery Workers Strike has been postponed, so what's the deal? Cheapest price I can get is $1.69, most places it's $1.76-$1.79 a gallon. I can accept eventually paying around $2 a gallon so the economy doesn't completely collapse, but not so soon.
Oil closed at $35 a barrel today, the lowest in five years. Perhaps prices will ease down?
As of today, its still creeping up here. $1.99 gal in the suburbs, and its usually quite a bit more near the airport and the theme parks. And its 10% corn based ethanol by law, so mileage suffers. Still beats $3.99, but WTF? Whatever happened to the days of big convertibles, cheap fuel, and beautiful girls? http://jezebel.com/5154499/...e-tonight?t=10774751
