TT Gas Guzzling/Price Thread

“$2.57 isn't bad at all! (crossing my fingers it hasn't gone up too much more there)”

“never mind...this is too political..I don't wanna post... *grins*

almost fell into the trap. woahh!!!
last edited: 9/01/05 10:39:11 PM”

“It's $3.27 in my neighboorhood.”

“1.36/litre here in London

funny---it was 1.02 on my way to work at 4. there's lots of talk up here about a gastax rollback to help lower the pump prices. right...i'm sure that's gonna happen.”

“I will be driving from Oregon to Los Angeles this weekend....going to be expensive...assuming I can get gas along I-5.

25 mpg in my Grand Prix on the way up. I got 29 mpg last time I drove it home from Oregon.”

“Prices dropped from 2.99 to 2.89 overnight here. Anyone else see a drop?”

“Didn't notive on the way in, couchtater...did they?

lol...my wife filled up last night instead of this morning, she should have waited. Oh well, that's the breaks.

What happened is, some of the refineries in Southern Louisiana got power again yesterday, and started producing gasoline again, plus pipeline pumps started pumping gas they already had again. And, the initial wave of idiots overbuying gas has subsided.”

“I live near Bit and Couchtater. The gas in the county is around 2.70-2.90. You can drive to Jackson county and get it for 10-20 cents less. I do that since I don't live far from there. I heard that the RaceTrac station at I-65 was out of gas yesterday because of their low prices.

I haven't seen any lines in the Huntsville area yet.”

“" Dont Laugh , 40 MPG... "”

“I need a bumper sticker
“" Dont Laugh , 40 MPG... "”
Lumberjack
10:11:27 AM
9/02/05
ignore this user

I think you will be the one doing the laughing.”

“That RaceTrac is where my brother fills up during his commute to Decatur from Madison.

I noticed yesterday that prices in Huntsville were around $3 for regular. If they've dropped a dime already, that's good news.”

“I got gas this morning at Costco at 2.50. Area stations were 2.89-2.99, some down a dime, some not.”

“I'm a Costco member, is that the price for everyone, or did you have to buy 100 gallons or something like that?”

“What is Costco?”

“A warehouse/bulk items store. I buy a lot of stuff there.”

“You gotta be a member to get gas, but they let you get less than a truckload, though I did fill my truck. ”

“Something like BJ's Wholesale Club?”

“Didn't S-rge guzzle two gallons of gas in 5 minutes back in college?”

“LMAO Nigal, it was 3 minutes 30 sec if memory serves.”

“lz, I guess so, although "BJ's Wholesale" sounds more like a cut-rate cathouse.”

“Ya gotta pay taxes on that then?”

““lz, I guess so, although "BJ's Wholesale" sounds more like a cut-rate cathouse.”
bitpusher
11:03:39 AM
9/02/05
ignore this user

LOL, as I was typing I was thinking someone would post something like that as a response.”

“Glad I was able to meet your base expectations!”

“Costco, which is a warehouse of items bought in bulk to give the consumer a discount can have a pump station at some of them, but they are not always necessarily the cheapest price!”

“They were around my house today, $2.99/gal. It was .10/gallon on the other side of the street.”

“$3.49/gallon in my area.”

“Prices are back down to $2.98 a gal here.”

“what do you think will be the price of gas after all of this is over and done with.

I think $ 2.25 will be the stopping point. I sure hope I am wrong.
I don't expect to see it cheaper than that again. As silly as it seems I think we would be happy to pay that price compared to what we are paying now.”

“Mid $2.70's in and around Orlando.”

“Still $3.09 here. I'm thinking I'll hold on to the old Honda scooter one more year.”

“I drove from Oregon to Los Angeles yesterday on I-5. In Oregon I paid $3.15/gal. In California I paid $3.29 near Redding and $3.09 near Bakersfield.

One gas station owner told me that travel was way down because of the gas prices. I didn't seem to hit too much traffic on I-5 considering it was a holiday weekend.”

“Average price in my area today is $3.01 - $3.05 for generic, and $3.15 average for name brand. Lowest I saw was a generic shop for $2.99. Paid $3.08 on Saturday for a fill-up. Not too bad, but when I see prices around the nation near $4/gallon it makes me wonder how much is just greedy gouging...”

“"One gas station owner told me that travel was way down because of the gas prices. I didn't seem to hit too much traffic on I-5 considering it was a holiday weekend.”

Everyone is driving a bit slower it seems too. I know I'm doing 65 with the cruise on in the slow lane now. LOL!”

“The price of gas abruptly dropped 30 cents a gallon here today.”

“Check out Europe, average just over $6 a gallon US. I remember in the late 80's it was $3 a gallon in Holland. Not that I'm not complaining, but maybe it helps me feel better to see others suffer. (hmmm, that doesn't sound right)

Curtis”

“Forbes warns of oil bubble
James McCullough and Mandi Zonneveldt
31aug05

PUBLISHING billionaire Steve Forbes has predicted that soaring oil prices will lead to a crash that could make the hi-tech bust of 2000 "look like a picnic".

Mr Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine, said the price of oil, which peaked at more than $US70 a barrel on Monday as Hurricane Katrina headed for the US Gulf Coast, was unsustainable.

He said factors such as inflation and increased demand for oil from China and India accounted for only a small part of the price hike from $US25-30 a barrel three years ago.

"The rest of it is sheer bubble speculation," he said.

Mr Forbes, who was speaking at the opening of the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Sydney yesterday, said the higher the oil price rose, the harder it would eventually crash, creating more pain for hedge fund managers and their clients.






"I don't think it's going to go to $US100 but if it does the crash is going to be even more spectacular," he said.

"It will make the hi-tech bubble look like a picnic -- this thing is not going to last."

He predicted that oil would fall to $US30-35 a barrel within a year.

Mr Forbes's comments came as the price of oil eased following US Government comments that it could release some of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The 700 million barrel stockpile is set aside for emergency use and could be used to counter oil shortages caused by Katrina's impact on the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for about a quarter of US output.

After leaping nearly $US5 a barrel to $US70.70 on Monday, US oil futures retreated more than $US1 a barrel yesterday.

On the physical market, Texas Intermediate was trading at $US67.40 while London Brent Crude was up $US1.88 a barrel at $US66.75.

Katrina crossed the United States coast yesterday after closing the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the biggest US oil import terminal, and halting 92 per cent of normal Gulf output.

The market was nervously awaiting news of the impact of the hurricane last night.

Royal Dutch Shell reported that its production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico may have been damaged.

BHP Billiton's operations were expected to remain suspended for the next few days, company spokeswoman Emma Meade said.

She said the impact of the storm would not be known for several days.

Petsec Energy said its two offshore platforms were not in Katrina's direct path.

In Australian trade yesterday shares in BHP Billiton bounced back 44 to $20.47. Petsec finished 4 higher at $1.60.

Oil heavyweights retreated on profit-taking and after Opec indicated it would increase production to deal with any supply shortages.

Woodside slid 41 to $32.94 while Santos fell 30 to $11.52.

with AFP”

“Lowest price I've seen here is $3.29 and the highest I've seen as of last night was $3.99.”

“On the drive into the Smokies Friday night the gas varied from 3.29 to 3.45. On the way out Monday the same stations were 2.99 to 3.29”

““The price of gas abruptly dropped 30 cents a gallon here today.”

Yeah, it's looking like just your run of the mill 3 day holiday weekend fuking by the oil companies. LOL!”

“I paid $2.91 for Chevron this morning at the car wash. Other stations I saw were in the $2.90s also.

On the news they said that refinery capacity is going back up faster than predicted.

Up-down-up-up-down-up-down-etc.”

“i hear ya Nigal...i got the ol vasaline special thursday now it's about 25 cents cheaper”

“With all the gameday traffic I saw a station with $9.79 for diesel when all their other gas was sold out at 2:00am Saturday night.”

“i paid $3.20 on thursday, but then again it could have been because of the guy working the counter of the gas station...

”

“I did not nitice any prices this morning on my way into work. I filled up the wives car yesterday at $2.96.

Anxious to see if it has dropped further”

“gasoline has reached to 2.00$CDN/litre !!!!!
this afternoon prices was sitting around 96/litre. now half the stations are at 1.05, the rest range from 1.86 to 2.01.
that's a big jump in 12 hours.

that suggestion of getting a horse is starting to look pretty good right about now.”

“I was watching Bill O'Reilly last night and he was discussing the rise in gas prices with Donald Trump. Both agreed that the oil companies are using collusion to rip people off.

The FTC is beginning the process to investigate the rise of prices at the pump.”

“Skyrocketing Gasoline Prices and
Record Oil Company Profits:
No Coincidence

Update September 21, 2005: Tyson Slocum testifies before the Senate on gasoline prices. See his testimony here.

Since George Bush became President in 2001, the top five oil companies in the United States have recorded profits of $254 billion:

ExxonMobil: $89 billion
Shell: $60.7 billion
BP: $53 billion
ChevronTexaco: $31 billion
ConocoPhillips: $20 billion

Many industry analysts claim that rising demand in China and India are the big reasons why the price of oil is hovering around $65 a barrel. However, they neglect to mention the role U.S. demand plays in setting global crude oil prices. Americans consume 25% of the world's oil every day. (China, the next biggest consumer, uses less than 7% of the world's oil each day.) America's huge appetite for oil combined with the fact that the United States is the world's third largest producer of it (only Saudi Arabia and Russia produce more than we do) creates a strong argument that the United States holds a lot of sway over world oil prices.

The energy bill that President Bush signed this month does nothing to address the U.S. factors that are driving oil and gas prices to record highs. Congress and the White House explicitly rejected efforts to improve fuel economy standards for our cars and trucks (which account for 70% of our oil consumption) or adequately fund fossil fuel alternatives.

The oil companies don't mind. Since Bush became President, the largest five oil companies operating in the US - ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell - have enjoyed profits of $254 billion, with ExxonMobil leading the way with profits of $89 billion.

Meanwhile, gas prices continue to go up up up - no oil company seems to be turning their profits into consumer savings. So it would seem there is a direct correlation between record prices paid by consumers and record profits enjoyed by oil companies. As Americans shell out more dollars at the pump, the profit margin by U.S. oil refiners has shot up 79% from 1999 (the year Exxon and Mobil merged) to 2004.

Does the energy bill hold these price-gougers responsible? Simply put, no. Bush's signature on the bill this month gave $6 billion in tax breaks and subsidies to oil companies. So it would seem the $52 million in campaign contributions to federal politicians by the oil industry (80% of that total going to Republicans) since 2001 has not only won the oil industry immunity from scrutiny, but has won it taxpayer dollars. This misguided energy policy keeps America on a path of continued dependence on fossil fuels and guarantees that consumers will continue paying record prices while oil companies roll in profits.”

“what good does it do for him to testify before the senate. They passed the bill overwhelmly to give the oil companies a tax break. Nice speach and all but he would have better luck talking to a wall.

BTW gas prices are hovering around 2.69 a gallon here. Sams Club has it for 2.57 I heard
last edited: 9/22/05 10:34:43 AM”

“What GAO Found
United States Government Accountability Office
Why GAO Did This Study
Highlights
Accountability Integrity Reliability
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-1047T.
To view the full product, including the scope
and methodology, click on the link above.
For more information, contact Jims Wells,
(202) 512-3841 or wellsj@gao.gov.
Highlights of GAO-05-1047T, a testimony
to the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
September 21, 2005
ENERGY MARKETS
Gasoline Price Trends
Crude oil prices and gasoline prices are inherently linked, because crude oil
is the primary raw material from which gasoline and other petroleum
products are produced. In the past year, crude oil prices have risen
significantly—from August 31, 2004 to August 31, 2005, the price of West
Texas Intermediate crude oil, a benchmark for international oil prices, rose
by almost $27 per barrel, an increase of almost 64 percent. Over about the
same period, average retail prices for regular gasoline rose nationally from
$1.87 to $2.61 per gallon, an increase of about 40 percent. Major upward and
downward movements of crude oil prices are generally mirrored by
movements in the same direction by gasoline prices. However, based on
recent events, at least in the short term, this historical trend has not held,
and retail prices have risen faster than crude oil prices.
While crude oil is a fundamental determinant of gasoline prices, a number of
other factors also play a role in determining how gasoline prices vary across
different locations and over time. For example, refinery capacity in the
United States has, in recent years, not expanded at the same pace as demand
for gasoline and other petroleum products. During the same period we have
imported larger and larger volumes of gasoline from Europe, Canada, and
other countries. Further, the American Petroleum Institute has recently
reported that U.S. average refinery capacity utilization has increased to 92
percent. As a result, domestic refineries have little room to expand
production in the event of a temporary supply shortfall.
Gasoline prices may also be affected by unexpected refinery outages or
accidents that significantly disrupt the delivery of gasoline supply. Most
recently, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, doing tremendous damage to
homes, businesses, and physical infrastructure, including roads; electricity
transmission lines; and oil producing, refining, and pipeline facilities.
Because the Gulf Coast refining region is a net exporter of petroleum
products to all other regions of the country, retail gasoline prices in many
parts of the nation rose dramatically. Average retail gasoline prices
increased 45 cents per gallon between August 29 and September 5. The
average price for a gallon of regular gasoline on September 5 was $3.07, the
highest nominal price ever.
Future gasoline prices will reflect the world supply and demand balance.
Globally, if demand for oil and petroleum products continues to rise, supply
will need to keep pace. The challenge is to boost supply and reduce
demand. We need to choose wisely and we need to act soon.
Soaring retail gasoline prices have
garnered extensive media attention
and generated considerable public
anxiety in recent months,
particularly in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina. Prices in many
areas hit by the hurricane saw
retail gasoline prices increase to
over $3.00 per gallon, and in one
reported case to almost $6.00 per
gallon, with some gasoline stations
running out of gasoline entirely.
The availability of relatively
inexpensive gasoline over past
decades has helped foster
economic growth and prosperity in
the United States, so large price
increases, especially if sustained
over a long period, pose long-term
challenges to the economy and
consumers.
This testimony, as requested,
addresses factors that help explain
how gasoline prices are determined
and what key factors will likely
influence trends in future gasoline
prices.”

“Chief - but what that report entirely fails to cater for is underling O&M costs for the production companies, and even any minimal taxes involved, all of which would have remained flat.”