Gas Prices

[Ben]

It's around $2.10 here. Guess it's going back up for the July 4th holiday. I think I'll buy gas on Wednesday that way I should avoid the even higher prices Thursday-Monday.

[Vator]

$2.15 round these parts. I can recall when it was only $.98 too.

[DSJ™]

******* gas went up again... 97.9 cents a litre. 

[JesseVader08]

Ok, that's funny.  Not ha ha funny, stupid funny.  It's 97.9 in Saskatchewan too.  How come the province that doesn't have a provinicial tax is paying the same price as one with a 7% tax?

Nice to see that all of that oil you guys are living on is paying off for you. 

[JediMAC]

I've been meaning to bump this one back up for a while here, since gas prices are once again at an all-time high here in the States.  Ratbastards are charging a minimum of $2.60 per gallon out here in SoCal, and that's for the crappy gas, at the cheapest stations in town.  Most places are selling the cheap stuff for 10 - 20 cents more than that.  We'll be at $3 a gallon pretty soon here, I bet.  Screw the extended toy hunting nowadays... 

[Morgbug]

Ok, that's funny.  Not ha ha funny, stupid funny.  It's 97.9 in Saskatchewan too.  How come the province that doesn't have a provinicial tax is paying the same price as one with a 7% tax?

Nice to see that all of that oil you guys are living on is paying off for you. 

Because it's a provincial tax that they don't pay, not one of the taxes on gas.  But hold your gas tanks boys, to the east and west it's over $1.00.  Will be soon for you and I Jesse, a matter of days if not hours.

The translation btw, is $4.00 a US gallon.  After exchange it's only $3.20 US

[Ben]

And yet, a certain oil company makes $7 billion profit in a ******* quarter of a year.

Where's Tom Brokaw and his 'Fleecing of America' (and Canada) when you need it?

[DoctorPadawan]

And yet, a certain oil company makes $7 billion profit in a ******* quarter of a year.

Not to mention the equally large tax break they receive from the federal government.   

It's actually becoming really clear around my area that some major league gouging is going on.  Here's the rundown of regular unleaded gas prices since last Friday:

August 05:  $2.059
August 06:  $2.099
August 07:  $2.159
August 08:  $2.199
August 09:  $2.259
August 10:  $2.299
August 11:  $2.359
August 12: 

I actually went out of town earlier this morning and one gas station (what I call "out of the loop" stations) actually had regular UL at 2.499 a gallon (which in a rural area, is as high as I have ever seen it get).  A report on CNN yesterday had a station in NYC at $2.81 for regular UL, and they said it would probably reach 3 bucks a gallon by the end of the year.  I'll go one better: I'll say it hits 3 bucks a gallon by the end of the month.

I think that a lot of the independent gas stations watch Fox News and see that the national average is 2.45 a gallon, for example.  Not understanding mathematics, they say, "Well if they're charging 2.45 a gallon, we need to raise our prices to just under that level or at that level."  This drives the national average up even higher, and the cycle repeats itself.  This doesn't even take into consideration the fact that gasoline sales are the only area I can think of where people try to price their product higher and higher, with all the other stations raising their prices as well to "compete." 

Screw the extended toy hunting nowadays.

With gas prices becoming what they are, Matt, screw any non-essential travelling nowadays at all.   

[Jessica-of-Naboo]

  i have cut back my driving
i drive the speed limit and morons blow right past  by me

i wish people would slow down

[Diddly]

I saw the same increases as DocP. One day it's a nice, low $2.06, the next day it's 10 cents more!

Local newspapers are also predicting $4 a gallon by January... great...

[Famine]

I truly doubt it will reach 4 dollars a gallon.

Anyone see Oilstorm on FX? It was a special about what would happen if oil production was hampered, and so on. It was a fact based fictional deal, similar to their Smallpox special.

I'm starting to store canned goods and ammunition.

Kevin

[Scott]

I posted this in the car thread but I'll do it again here....

I think the gas thing a little overrated.  Historically, gas prices have been well behind inflation.  I realize there is some price gouging and stuff happening and the record profits being made by oil companies is a little disheartening but in the long run $2-$3 a gallon is not too bad, especially compared to Europeans and again historical low prices of crude and gas in general



Psychologically it seems worse but we're actually better off than we were in the 80's.  Also, cars, even big cars and SUVs are getting better and better milage.  Hybrids and Fuel Cells are right around the corner and I hope this is the push that gets us there.  Both from an econimic but also from a coolness stand point. 


ADD:  I believe I read today that in the early 80's Crude was at $90 a barrel in todays dollars.  Its nowhere near that yet.  Sure it hurts more than it used to and sure there is some fleecing going on but the sky is not falling

[Jesse James]

I think the "sting" people are feeling is the pace at which things are increasing coupled with the fact that people's pays aren't really skyrocketing overall either...  It's just ugly out there for most.

I know that $18 to get my car close to full from 1/4 tank is REALLY not doing me much good in the wallet.  I've even cut random trips down and it just has sucked.

What I'm trying to take advantage of more than anything is "deals".  For instance our grocery store chain's have a deal where you spend so much using your "advantage card" and you get $.10 off per gallon at their "Get-Go" stations.  That's ok if you spend a ****load on food at least...  It's like $.10 off per gallon for every $50 spent in the store.  I've got a gas can I fill now when I fill up using my advantage card discount I've saved up...  Paid $.70/gallon one day and filled as many gas cans as I have, plus my car, haha.

That $18 tonight though just blew...    Running to football games and practices just bit me in the ass since that's where my gasoline went lately.

[Morgbug]

The gas thing is a wee bit infuriating for me.  My job was moved from the city, where I could bike or bus easily, even carpool with my wife, to a town 60 miles to the southwest.  It's an agriculture based job so it belongs in the country is the rationale.  We'll completely ignore that the US extension system is based out of universities for the moment.  So I drive 120+ miles a day, on my own ticket because the government decentralized. 

I don't want to drive that much.  I don't think it's a good thing to do.  I don't think it's environmentally friendly.

But I'm not moving out here because then my wife would be the one making the exact same commute, only in reverse. 

I could find a different job, but this one pays well, I mostly enjoy it and honestly, there are not that many jobs for entomologists around. 

So basically I'm hooped buying a tank of gas a week minimum, just for commuting.  I cannot request a transfer back into the city as that's perceived as anti-agriculture. 

This sucks. [/rant]

[DoctorPadawan]

Today's Gasshole Update:  The station which I chronicled in my earlier post has kept up their trend and gas is now $2.399 a gallon for regular UL.  If that wasn't bad enough, the Chevron that is more or less directly beside me has raised its gas price to $2.499 a gallon.   

I think the "sting" people are feeling is the pace at which things are increasing coupled with the fact that people's pays aren't really skyrocketing overall either...  It's just ugly out there for most.

Exactly.  The price of everything just keeps going up and up and up, but wages are staying the same.  Without getting political, "our representative government" is hellbent on not raising the minimum wage, but they readily vote themselves raises whenever the moment suits them.  Alan Greenspan I'm not, but when companies across the board wonder why their sales are down, all they need to do is look at the current trend of service prices exceeding wages, and they'll have their answer.

Anyone see Oilstorm on FX? It was a special about what would happen if oil production was hampered, and so on. It was a fact based fictional deal, similar to their Smallpox special.

Yeah, Kevin, I think that both of those shows/movies were very interesting and very thought-provoking.  I love "mockumentaries" along those lines, and what scared the hell out of me was that both of them could actually happen.  I'm a pretty tin-foil hat type of guy to begin with so maybe that's coloring my appreciation of those films, but it all seemed so plausible.  Doesn't stop me from hoping it won't happen though.