Monday the Sunoco station at I66/Glebe Road in Arlington, VA was 3.05 for 87 octane. Yesterday afternoon it was 2.89. Same price this morning when I passed by at 5:40am. Will be interesting to see what it is tonight, with Hurricane Rita bearing down to the Texas gulf coast.
Haven't bought gas in a few days, but I noticed at probably the priciest Shell in town (Chicago and Orleans, right off the Kennedy Expressway downtown), regular is down to $2.989, so it should be at least a dime cheaper everywhere else.
As an aside, why is it that Philadelphia's gas is like 10-15 cents higher than Chicago's when usually it's the other way around? Lemko? Anyone?
A reporter requests to speak with someone who has changed their driving behavior in light of rising gas prices. Are you accelerating slower, carpooling, not making as many trips as you did, or other? If so, please respond to pr@edmunds.com TODAY (Thurs., Sept. 22) with your day/evening contact number with the latest time you can be phoned and a brief description of you recent experiences.
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I think oil barrel prices will give a boost to a lot of alternate energy sources or even sourcing. Perhaps in the long-run this would be the one benefit out of all this.
Prices seem to be holding steady - probably as they are already too high. It's $2.83 for Sunoco Regular and $3.11 for Ultra. I filled my 1989 Cadillac Brougham after the meet which was about 30 miles away. She only used about $10 worth of Ultra.
Thanks to a couple of local radio talk show hosts who stupidly said on the air last Thursday that everyone should go out and fill up or top off NOW before any price increase from the hurricane hits, we got a 14 cent bump this morning, which seems out of line with what everyone else is reporting.
A great illustration of how panic CAN affect things short term :mad:
...I did something I NEVER do (except for starting out on long trips) -- I topped off the tanks in both of my vehicles before Rita. (So go ahead and smack me upside the head!) But I saw what happened with Katrina, and I had luckily filled up before that storm hit too, so I was able to "ride out" the rapid rise. By the time I needed to fill up again, sanity was back.
So I did the same with this storm. I can make it two weeks in my Frontier, about 3 in my Camry, long enough for prices to come back down (I hope).
This morning's news reports included reports about the damage that didn't happen to the refineries, and that oil and gas futures were down, and it was almost as though they were disappointed that they didn't have anything horrible to report.
They tried to recover by saying that it will take some time for the two refineries that DID shut down operations to reopen and get back up to speed. Always look for ther darkest cloud seems to be the motto now.
I did the same thing, taking both my convertible and pickup to the gas station and topping them off last Thursday at lunch, and getting the Intrepid topped off that evening. I'm hoping that I'll be able to go awhile before filling up again, and prices will be back down when I do!
I filled up on the way to the beach (because I had to) but not on the way back, which I usually do. We have 3 cars so that one can probably stay parked until 2 weeks from now, when we'll be making another road trip.
Regular is now $2.839 at the Hess station on Oxrford and Levick in NE Philly. Sunoco Regular is $2.819. Lowest price gas is still $2.799 at Wawa and other no-name places.
.....some of you are reporting price drops, while prices here in the Chicagoland area have gone up .10 or so. This area has always been one of the most notorious for gouging.....looks like they will continue to live up to that rep.
Up 10 cents from yesterday morning 2.899 for 87 reg 2.999 mid and 3.099 prem Up from 2.559 before rita and 2.389 before Katrina....high price after Katrina 3.199
Odd day... about 10 this morning I filled up at $2.69. When I drove by at 4:30 this afternoon the price was at $2.74, and when I pssed by 20 minutes later it was at $2.84
In Monroe, Wa ARCO sells for $2.69. I have 2 hi-mileage cars. Listening to TV reports about rising or dropping gas price stories, I try to use one car as a reserve to time whether I should fuel up or not. I seldom guess right. I think the TV stories are floated by the gas companies to get people to pay the most on any particular day.
Slight Rita effect here. Gasoline is up 3 at the Sunoco at Verree and Rhawn in NE Philly. Regular is $2.849, Mid-grade is $2.949, and Super is $3.049. Curiously, Ultra 94 is only up one cent to $3.129.
Lowest prices in central VA are $2.999 for 87 with the usual 10-cent spread for the higher grades.
I topped up both vehicles before Rita and am hoping to ride out the panic again (as for Katrina), but I heard that 20% of refinery capacity is out for now.
We took a road trip in rural VA this weekend, and it was very strange. In some remote places, where you'd expect gas to be a heck of a lot cheaper than in the city, it actually cost more. I saw some places with gas for $3.30.
I used to go to places like that and find gas for significantly less, not more. Odd.
Ended up getting gas on my way back, when I was already in Reston, VA. Saved a bunch, too!
.....why prices have jumped again. The reports I heard were that Rita caused little if any damage to refineries. If anything, prices should be dropping. I can hear the excuses now; "we were expecting higher prices due to damage from Rita, but when the damage didn't occure, we had to make up for the expected higher prices we didn't get." When the oil industry runs out of ligitimate reasons for price gouging, they make up reasons.
I'm as frustrated as anyone with the way prices are determined, but the offices of the oil companies are not where the prices are set. The futures market is the place where these prices are being set. That seems to be the place where reasons are being found to run up prices. And it's been a while since anything but raw emotion has had an effect on the price.
Comments
-juice
As an aside, why is it that Philadelphia's gas is like 10-15 cents higher than Chicago's when usually it's the other way around? Lemko? Anyone?
http://www.flyingj.com/fuel/gasoline_CF.cfm?state=ALL
Still low supplies in Gulfport, MS which makes sense, but they have one closed location in Beach, ND. I guess it IS a long haul to get up there!
-juice
I filled up my Frontier yesterday at Exxon, as it was about 3/8 full, in anticipation of another panic.
I also filled up my totally dry 2 1/2 gallon gas can for the mowers, at a different Exxon (nearest my house), at $2.779/gallon. Total was $7!
Sunoco truck stop, Palisades Park NJ
87 - $2.879
89 - $2.979
93 - $3.079
94 - $3.119
diesel - $2.659
Mt. Arlington Exxon, Mt. A, NJ
87 - $2.979
89 - $3.119
93 - $3.249
(still too afraid to find out what diesel is... have to go to the pump itself to find out)
kcram - Pickups Host
Thanks for participating and getting your story read in this major daily newspaper!
89 - $2.75
Prem- $2.95
Citgo: Up another 10 cents by late afternoon, to $2.799/gal. That's 20 cents in just 24 hours.
So-called "Lowest Price" followed, with an 11-cent increase to $2.699.
Meanwhile, Sheetz and Exxon are standing pat at $2.599.
-juice
-juice
A great illustration of how panic CAN affect things short term :mad:
So I did the same with this storm. I can make it two weeks in my Frontier, about 3 in my Camry, long enough for prices to come back down (I hope).
They tried to recover by saying that it will take some time for the two refineries that DID shut down operations to reopen and get back up to speed. Always look for ther darkest cloud seems to be the motto now.
I'm betting that by then gas will be down again.
-juice
Up from 2.559 before rita and 2.389 before Katrina....high price after Katrina 3.199
-juice
3 straight days of increase of a dime a day
87 - $2.899
89 - $2.999
93 - $3.099
diesel - $2.799
27.75 gallons of D, a rather annoying $77.65...
kcram - Pickups Host
Oil barrels are down, so we should see prices drop again soon.
-juice
I topped up both vehicles before Rita and am hoping to ride out the panic again (as for Katrina), but I heard that 20% of refinery capacity is out for now.
I used to go to places like that and find gas for significantly less, not more. Odd.
Ended up getting gas on my way back, when I was already in Reston, VA. Saved a bunch, too!
-juice
The market is broken, the trickle-downers need to realize it.
And what do you propose the trickle-downers should do about it?
Here's one solution: USE LESS GAS.
What kind of mileage are you getting in your MB? 20mpg?
Not a shocker, but discussing gas prices has been a regular part of our chats lately. Stop in tonight and we can kick them around some more.
PF Flyer
Host
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