So um...what is up with these Gas Prices?!

[Macdaddy4738]

Its been like a 15% price increase in 4 DAYS?!

Its up to 2.59 in Hickory, I can only imagine how bad it is in bigger cities.


Is there any reason for it this time

 

[purpleTJchick]

the only reason is they know people are going to buy it. they only brought the prices down for a little while

 

[paulevans76]

the past year or so it has been like this. they jump it up a lot, ease it slowly down to about 5-10 cents over what you were used to, then when you are used to the new price, they do it again. Oh and be sure to thank Easley for the gas tax increase.

 

[JPScout]

Saw regular for $2.16 at the PetroExpress on Hwy. 127 in Hickory this afternoon. Every pump was occupied too.

 

[shawn]

I dunno what it costs right now. I haven't filled up since January.

But fuel prices should be going up right now due to short supplies (seasonal maintenance) and high worldwide crude prices. Expect the switch away from MTBE to drive prices up this summer.

Just think: It could be 1981, and you'd be paying $3.40 a gallon.

 

[Macdaddy4738]

Saw regular for $2.16 at the PetroExpress on Hwy. 127 in Hickory this afternoon. Every pump was occupied too.

OH boy, I hope its still that cheap tomorrow, and that my car can make it that far

 

[Deuce 40s]

gas prices are nuts these days, i'm gonna start walking trails

 

[Elliott]

gas prices are nuts these days, i'm gonna start walking trails

Just get a mud terrain pattern grafted onto the bottom of your feet and replace all the bones in your legs with chromoly tubing and you'd be one hardcore trail runner.

 

[thebluyak]

Just get a mud terrain pattern grafted onto the bottom of your feet and replace all the bones in your legs with chromoly tubing and you'd be one hardcore trail runner.

Uhhhh what?

 

[Ratman]

Gouging.


'nuff said.

 

[radioman]

Oil is a commodity, like wheat, valuable minerals, etc. The people who have the oil in the ground set the initial prices, and the oil companies determine what they have to have to meet the stockholder demands, so the oil companies are in business to SELL oil at supplier prices and make a profit, and you can bet they're happy with the market as it is now. BUT, the Commodities Exchange is where the MARKET prices are determined. Think of it as a kind of stock exchange for commodities instead of business stocks. Imagine the same kind of bidding frenzy by commodities traders and speculators. Wanna blame somebody? How 'bout yer neighbor who plays the commodities market on a regular basis? He's as guilty as anybody in the chain.

Speculators and commodities traders are only interested in making money, they never have to face the consumer, and they don't give a purple damn what your problems with paying the prices may be. Because the market operates 5 days a week, the market price can fluctuate by the minute during trading hours. Your local oil jobber has to pay the market price for products, and has to take the brunt of your rage when, in fact, he has little to do with the actual price at the pump, though there are some who take great advantage of the fluctuations.

Supply and demand is the key to pricing, and pricing is hugely more affected day to day by the successful or unsuccessful bidding on the floor of the exchange than it is by anything on the oil company end. And hell yes, the oil companies are reaping huge profits, though hardly any of it is because of their own efforts. Look at the shear volume of money changing hands. Gee, after production costs, taxes, salaries, benefits, stockholder dividends, and miscellaneous expenses, they only made 10% net profit. Think about it: 10% of 40 billion is still 4 BILLION bucks! They're riding the wave and enjoying the hell out of it. Wouldn't you?

 

[Vercer]

This is why the Jeep is being relegated to only when I have my daughter with me duty and I'm buying a bike for commuting.

15mpg vs. 60-70mpg makes up for the extra payment and then some.

 

[CasterTroy]

Gouging.
'nuff said.

No, SURLY not


I personally believe some wealthy oil tycoon arab bought a new polished aluminum audi and the reflection caused envy among the other wealthy arab oil tycoons on his block and they all placed orders for all aluminum polished bentleys, thus creating a panic among the wealthy arab banks thinking they would lose a few million. So they decided to make a few hundred BILLION off the price of oil to ensure a steady cash flow during this trying time on their economy

 

[Trebissky]

Its been like a 15% price increase in 4 DAYS?!
Its up to 2.59 in Hickory, I can only imagine how bad it is in bigger cities.
Is there any reason for it this time

I went in to work Wednesday morning and the stations on 70/Miami were all at around $2.35.

When I went home that evening at 6PM, most of them were at $2.58! The Hess wanted $2.45 so I topped off right then and there!

How the HELL can they raise the price between 10 and 25 cents within 8 hours? Never mind 4 days.

I was wondering if maybe some assholes blew up a refinery or some damn thing.

 

[Franklin]

they only made 10% net profit. Think about it: 10% of 40 billion is still 4 BILLION bucks! They're riding the wave and enjoying the hell out of it. Wouldn't you?

Find another capital intensive industry similar to oil that can survive making sub-10% profits.

Guess some should have bought oil and refinery stocks like I did.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hum... Diesel is the same

 

[Rich]

Hum... Diesel is the same

Yeah, too fucking much. And my dumb ass can't keep out of the loud pedal with the new injectors and turbo.. it's just too damn fun.

Looking forward to bringing home a partial "commuter" tomorrow..

 

[Stankoma]

No reason to complain, it's still cheaper than water.

 

[rbo1577186]

The shit has jumped 24 cents in less than 3 days in W-S. WTF....... Late last year the oil companies posted record profit earnings.... not revenue, profit...... their cost hasn't gone up, just ours...........

 

[shawn]

See, that's where you'd be wrong. That record profit number.... inflation adjusted? Of course not. What about the long bust cycles that the petroleum industry muddled through, particularly in the mid-90s when fuel prices were ridiculously low? Long forgotten.

This entire situation is exacerbated by hysterical, uninformed (or worse, misleading) media reports.

Learn to accept the fact that fuel prices aren't constant, and they'll progressively increase over time. If you don't like paying for it, make a change in your lifestyle that decreases your fuel expenses.

 

[rbo1577186]

A pigs ass...... How the fuck can it go from 1.30 ish to 3.15 in less than 3 years???? from 3.15 to 2.00 in less than 6 months???? Gimme a fucking break.

blah blah blah

Yes inflation....... I don't think the rate of inflation has increased anywhere near the rate in gas price hikes..

I can deal with progressive increases over time... everything goes up, but our gas hike is explosive, not progressive.

Lifestyle fuel saving changes..... I've always had an economic vehicle. 4cyl pickup... I've only driven my Jeep 2 times in the last 7 weeks... I live less than 2 miles from grocery stores/resturants, I live 12 miles from work... I don't stray too far from the nest... There's not many more fuel saving changes I can make... I won't buy a hybrid car until the prices come down/and the bugs are worked out of them.

Theres some people in the oil industry/government that are just loving the price hikes.....

 

[shawn]

A pigs ass...... How the fuck can it go from 1.30 ish to 3.15 in less than 3 years???? from 3.15 to 2.00 in less than 6 months????

Supply and demand.

 

[radioman]

OPEC has tripled the per barrel price over the last three years, probably as a way to fatten up their coffers and as a way the punish the "American pigs" that depend so heavily on the oil. Remember, practically all the countries that have the oil are the ones that hate America and that oil companies have to pay the going rate for crude from the OPEC countries. Venezuela (one of our largest sources) has a "president" that hates our guts, and Mexico (another large source) is so damned corrupt, so live with it. It's estimated that the OPEC countries could actually produce the oil for a tenth of what they're getting, but then their royal families and corrupt governments wouldn't be able to drive around in expensive toys and own fantastic real estate, or be able to buy American companies.

And how can it go from over 3 bucks to 2 bucks? You need to read the part about the commodities traders bidding up the price on oil stocks. Oil stocks, BTW, are not company shares, they're the petroleum products stored in tank farms at the pipeline depots. Shutdown the rigs and refineries and pipelines due to damage or weather and the supply gets tight. It's the old "no output, no income" syndrome for the oil companies, and the traders and speculators will bid up the prices on the remaining existing supplies. There's only so much to go around and it all simply becomes a bidding war at that point. He who has the money gets the goods, and you can't get the money to buy the higher priced product unless you jack the prices on what you already have. Pretty simple really.

 

[shawn]

OPEC has tripled the per barrel price over the last three years, probably as a way to fatten up their coffers and as a way the punish the "American pigs" that depend so heavily on the oil.

That's all true, but high prices aren't necessarily good for the OPEC members, either. As the price of crude increases, the OPEC share of worldwide reserve actually decreases significantly. They're something like 30% of worldwide production now... give or take 10%, I'm not sure. They've got some of the largest proven sweet crude reserves, too. But as price goes up, other crude sources elsewhere in the world become profitable. Oil shale in Colorado, oil sands in Alberta, and so on. The balance of reserves actually shifts very sharply to this side of the ocean as the price increases.

Not only that, but momentary price spikes have often resulted in long-term demand decreases and lower prices over the long term. Those guys weren't making a whole lot of cash in the mid- and late-90s when we were paying less than $11 a barrel and $1/gal at the pump. Those prices were partly to blame on spikes a few years earlier that slowed demand growth.

There was something like 70% excess production capacity in SE Asia/Pacific Rim up until a couple of years ago. Chinese demand jumped, and now they're running at capacity, straining production and causing rapid market fluctuations there as well.

All in all, a complex problem with no easy solutions, and no readily-apparent causes and effects.

I saw a nice little article the other day, tho.... basic idea was that we already have a bunch of E85-capable vehicles riding around on the roads. If some thoughful politicians (cough) would create regulations requiring US market vehicles to be tri-fuel capable.... run ethanol, methanol, or gasoline, within a couple of years, we'd have a few million of those riding around. Once that happened, you'd get local market supplements from ethanol and methanol that significantly offset gasoline demand. E85 is already widely available in a lot of great plains states (corn). Midwest states, Rocky Mountain states, etc could have locally-produced methanol, etc.

 

[radioman]

Agreed, big time agreed. My Exploder is one of those that can handle the alcohol, so anytime the fuels industry is ready, I am. I'd be agreeable to most anything that will decrease our dependence on oil, especially foreign oil. If we could manage to acquire all our fuels from the North American and Central American continents, we'd be much better off, and what better way than turning agricultural products into fuels. I ran my Ford Diesel on peanut and soybean oil on more than one occasion and it seemed to be fine with veggie squeezings, though in the comparatively small quantities it's currently produced it was fairly expensive, and it smelled like an Oriental restaurant on steroids.