Gas Prices

[isabeau]

sighs...what a time to have bought a honda pilot suv..our gas is over three dollars a gallon now..

 

[Mimi]

$3.07 here in central WI.

 

[Icycle]

sighs...what a time to have bought a honda pilot suv..our gas is over three dollars a gallon now..

Oh! Isabeau, what did you a silly thing like that for? The Ford Escape hybrid is about $1000 cheaper and gets 31-36 mpg. At least tell me you didn't get the 4WD.

 

[isabeau]

Oh! Isabeau, what did you a silly thing like that for? The Ford Escape hybrid is about $1000 cheaper and gets 31-36 mpg. At least tell me you didn't get the 4WD.

hey Icycle.. blame the hubby on this one and yes we did get a 4WD um why?

 

[Icycle]

hey Icycle.. blame the hubby on this one and yes we did get a 4WD um why?

Ah, boys and their toys. The problem is that 4WD adds to the price of your car and reduces your fuel economy. The 4WD version of the Honda Pilot gets about 5% worse gas milage than the 2WD version, even when you aren't using 4WD.

 

[isabeau]

Ah, boys and their toys. The problem is that 4WD adds to the price of your car and reduces your fuel economy. The 4WD version of the Honda Pilot gets about 5% worse gas milage than the 2WD version, even when you aren't using 4WD.

do I have your permission to knock the crap out of him? 😀 lololol..I do know that when we went on our last trip, it cost over fifty dollars to fill up the tank..thank goodness we don't travel very often..

 

[Icycle]

Here's a zoomable gas price map for the whole United States:

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

California and New York City are looking pretty bad!

 

[Sultrybrunette]

$2.94 late in the afternoon yesterday in the Capital City of Michigan. One day it went from $2.83 to that. Now tell me we aren't being gouged???? Middle East my ass. Lets look at the profit that the oil companies are making hand over fist with the help of their buddy George W.

 

[kis123]

$2.94 late in the afternoon yesterday in the Capital City of Michigan. One day it went from $2.83 to that. Now tell me we aren't being gouged???? Middle East my ass. Lets look at the profit that the oil companies are making hand over fist with the help of their buddy George W.

Don't even get me started with this one! What's worse is all of his supporters claiming that this is just capitalism at work. Bulls*it if you ask me!! We as American citizens are told to tighten our belts while the gov spends millions to fight a war we didn't want to go to and stroke the oil companies who are making billion dollar profits as our families line up at bankruptcy court! The government and media must really think we're stupid to buy into this crap! I personally can't wait for the hydrogen fuled vehicle to be perfected-I'm going to be the first in line!!

 

[Sultrybrunette]

Don't even get me started with this one! What's worse is all of his supporters claiming that this is just capitalism at work. Bulls*it if you ask me!! We as American citizens are told to tighten our belts while the gov spends millions to fight a war we didn't want to go to and stroke the oil companies who are making billion dollar profits as our families line up at bankruptcy court! The government and media must really think we're stupid to buy into this crap! I personally can't wait for the hydrogen fuled vehicle to be perfected-I'm going to be the first in line!!

You got it and who ends up paying the price the most? Us low income people that can't afford to be paying the prices. I am just very thankful that everything I need is a mile or less around me so I can go longer than some people. It never ends.

 

[Saeria]

I paid $2.89/ gal at the corner store a few days ago. It now takes over $5 to fill the tank on my four-wheeler. I saw how much money i was spending just going 2 miles down the road to the corner store for dumb things like caffeine, sunflower seeds, and an excuse to get 15 minutes out of the house and started driving the fourwheeler along in the ditches there and back. Even that is starting to cost me more than i want to spend.

 

[Goodieluver]

$2.94 late in the afternoon yesterday in the Capital City of Michigan. One day it went from $2.83 to that. Now tell me we aren't being gouged???? Middle East my ass. Lets look at the profit that the oil companies are making hand over fist with the help of their buddy George W.

Not to turn it into a poltical feud but the reason for hi prices are due to other countries buyin up\using more oil, like india. I wanna say petrol and other crude oil substances world wide are very abnormally high

 

[nowayjose]

Gas prices in the US are still less than half of what it's here in Europe, so stop whining.
Thank George W. for driving the oil price up from 20-30$/barrel to now over 70. His oil friends couldn't be happier about it.

 

[Mz Chaos]

I drive an older car... a huge big beast. She was made back when gas was about $.65 a gallon. Remember those days???
The only complaint I have with it is the gas mileage... everything else about her suits me to a T.
She gets... are you sitting down?... 10 to 11 MPG's. The drive to town is 23 miles. Our gas is $3.15 per gal (at least thats' what it was yesterday). That means that just to go to town... it costs me over $12.00.
Believe me... I make sure I get what I need while I'm there. If I forget anything... it waits til next week, or if it is real important and they have what I need, I use the mom and pop store on the corner.
Yeah... I know... I should get another car... problem is... this one is dependable (she'd better be after all the money I have sunk into her) and very comfy and fun to drive.
So... I'll just keep gritting my teeth as I fill up her 22 gal tank and try to keep from fainting when I see the price.

 

[Strider]

Thank George W. for driving the oil price up from 20-30$/barrel to now over 70. His oil friends couldn't be happier about it.

You do realize one individual does not have the influence over world oil markets you're contending.

 

[nowayjose]

You do realize one individual does not have the influence over world oil markets you're contending.

No, but the Bush war has certainly not helped keeping the price down.

 

[Goodieluver]

No, but the Bush war has certainly not helped keeping the price down.

Opec did not raise prices because of President Bush, they raised it cuz they want more money and to export less oil. Hell, Opec stopped shipping oil in 73 cuz we supported israel's independence and declaration of state, thats an example of how those people act. Its also now Hugo Chavez who is tryin to get opec to reduce oil production, which would harm the world even more

 

[Strider]

No, but the Bush war has certainly not helped keeping the price down.

In the short term, no. But Iraq wasn't producing anywhere near full capacity even before the war, and instability in Russia and Venezuela hasn't helped either. Medium and long term though, the real reason oil prices are so high is simply because demand is the highest its ever been.

 

[Icycle]

Now tell me we aren't being gouged???? Middle East my ass. Lets look at the profit that the oil companies are making hand over fist with the help of their buddy George W.

We aren't being gouged. This is simply a matter of supply and demand. I hear you saying, "Now what a minute! The hostilities just increased in the Middle East! It couldn't possibly have disrupted oil supplies yet."

But as soon as the news of Middle East came out, at least a few people thought that they should fill up their cars a little sooner because prices were likely to go up due to the hostilities. This increases the demand, and since the supply hasn't had a chance to increase, prices go up. Other people see the prices go up, want to top off before prices go up even futher, and drive up demand even more.

I won't say that there aren't at least some opportunistic entrepreneurs out there raising prices just because they can, but but unless there is collusion amongst all the gas stations in a geographic area, such price gougers will be quickly brought back in line with the prices set by supply and demend.

 

[Icycle]

I am just very thankful that everything I need is a mile or less around me so I can go longer than some people.

I saw how much money i was spending just going 2 miles down the road to the corner store for dumb things like caffeine, sunflower seeds, and an excuse to get 15 minutes out of the house and started driving the fourwheeler along in the ditches there and back. Even that is starting to cost me more than i want to spend.

If places you want to go really are one to two miles away, and you really are interested in saving money on gas, I would encourage you to entertain the possibility of walking or biking instead. You'll save money and get a little exercise in the process. The average person can walk a mile in about 20 minutes, and bicycle two miles in 12 minutes without breaking a sweat.

 

[Icycle]

In the short term, no. But Iraq wasn't producing anywhere near full capacity even before the war, and instability in Russia and Venezuela hasn't helped either. Medium and long term though, the real reason oil prices are so high is simply because demand is the highest its ever been.

Strider, I think you hit it right on. Worldwide demand for oil has been continuing to increase at rate of about 2% per year, due primarily to increases in demand in India, China, and the United States. World oil production has been unable to keep pace with increasing demand since about late 2004. Since demand is increasing faster than supply, prices must go up.

Unfortunately, there is good evidence that we may be approaching the peak of worldwide oil production after which world oil production will plateau and then decline.

 

[Adam]

About $3.07 right up the street from me, here in Baltimore. I'm sick of it.

 

[TKpervert]

We're being conditioned like Pavlov's dogs.

It was gas shortages in the 70's.

Then it was coffee in the mid-eighties.

Then it was sugar in the late eighties.

Now we're back to gas again.

Get used to it, you won't see gas below $3 a gallon again.

Why ? Because we need it and can afford it.

This is a new benchmark.
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[Icycle]

It was gas shortages in the 70's.

Gas prices were indeed high in the 1970s, due to the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-4 and the Iran crisis in 1979. But the inflation adjusted prices of crude oil declined dramatically throughout the early 1980's, and by 1986 they had returned to almost the same price as before the oil embargo in the early 1970's. The prices started increasing again in 1999, and have been increasing ever since, except for a brief dip during the 2001 recession.

Then it was coffee in the mid-eighties.

I'm not sure if you are referring to the price of unroasted coffee beans on the world market, or the price of a cup of Starbucks, but they are far from the same thing. In 2002, the inflation adjusted price of unroasted coffee beans was near a 100-year low. The price of Starbucks coffee has far more to do with brand promotion than the raw materials. If you want a cheap cup of coffee, you can get one. You just have to go someplace other than Starbucks.

Then it was sugar in the late eighties.

Believe it or not, this is tied in with oil, too. Brazil, which is one of the world's major sugar producers, now converts are large portion of its sugar crop into bioethenol for transport fuel. It is the number one producer of bioethenol in the world, producing 3.5 billion gallons in 2003, as compared with 2.8 billion gallons of corn-ethanol produced by the United States the same year. As long as oil prices remain high, you can probably expect that sugar will continue to be converted into transport fuel, keeping prices high. But don't worry, most food in the United States is sweetened with subsidised high-fructose corn syrup!

Get used to it, you won't see gas below $3 a gallon again.

Why ? Because we need it and can afford it.

Yes, gas prices are high and will remain high as long as demand exceeds supply. This is basic economics. And if the oil geologists who are predicting that we are approaching the peak of world oil production are right, price will remain high for the foreseeable future.

And of course, political instability in the major oil producing areas of the Middle East, Venezuala, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Russia will only make matters worse. When there is no spare capacity in the oil production system, any disruption is likely to result in much higher oil prices.

 

[TKpervert]

Beautiful response there Icycle. Really.

But it still blows me away how we all pull up to the gas pump, swipe the credit card, go wash the windshield, then accept the $46.22 charge to the credit card to fill up the wheels. Gotta have them wheels.

I do this weekly and don't question it. I've been conditioned.

two more comments:

1. there are still billions of barrels of oil out there for the taking. The Western coast of California offers billions, Alaska more billions.

2. alternative energy sources are a political joke.

It's oil all the way.
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