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Report Your Local Gas Prices Here (retired discussion, please see the new one)
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2.69 for mid
2.79 for prem
at the discount (i.e. QT, RaceTrac) stores. Name brands are about a nickel above that. In a word..."nuts"
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited Velvet Red over Wicker Beige
2024 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Daytona Gray over Beige
2017 BMW X1 Jet Black over Mocha
Girlfriend's car has the garden-variety 3.8 V-6. If she listened to me, she'd have a CXS with the 3.6, but she tends to be a cheapskate sometimes. She's not an enthusiast.
Rocky
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B04DAEDEF%2D97C7%2D42C0%- - 2DAFC9%2D151E2E3D2981%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=
I would suggest to those of you bothered by higher fuel prices, that you change your lifestyle being centered around the auto.
The regime is stating there's no plan to do anything in Iran...that'll be the event that starts the new pricebloat.
Anyway, I see that Sunoco Regular is now up four cents to $2.69. Ultra is already $2.97. I'm planning a trip to Niagara Falls with my girlfriend this July. If I drive up in the Park Ave and the price of gasoline is $4 a gallon by then, it'll cost me $138 in fuel costs alone assuming the car gets an average 24 MPG. The round trip will total 828 miles. Maybe I should borrow Mom's Aveo?
Rocky
Rocky
Fintail somehow misinterpreted this. This means that the typical person who's buying a new car is not going to really care if they pay an extra $50/month for gas (200-150), when they are buying a new car. $50/month x 12 months = $600/year. $600/year is probably < 1% of a new car buyer's household income.
http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=060410&cat=business&st=businessd8- gtclm80&src=ap
The Seville gets about 25 MPG on the highway but is awful in city driving. She also prefers Sunoco 94 Ultra. I guess I spoiled her. She likes to go to Le Bec Fin whereas my Park Ave is happy with Mickey D's.
Ya'll have 94' Octane :surprise: WOW.....That is spoiling a car.
Rocky
Of course, with the gouge and retreat gas pricing structure, it is difficult to predict a yearly gas expense.
Rocky
Taking an unusually public swipe at another industry, Chrysler's chief spokesman slammed major oil companies Monday, accusing them of greed and indifference to the environment.
The blunt remarks by Jason Vines, vice president of communications for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, are likely to fuel tensions between Big Oil and the auto industry that have been rising along with gas prices.
"Big Oil would rather fill the pockets of its executives and shareholders, rather than spend sufficient amounts to reduce the price of fuel, letting consumers, during tough economic times, pick up the tab," Vines wrote on a company blog, www.thefirehouse.biz, used to communicate with journalists and financial analysts.
In an extraordinary rebuke across industry lines, Vines said the oil companies were lining up scapegoats for frustrated consumers while filling their coffers.
"Despite a documented history of blowing their exorbitant profits on outlandish executive salaries and stock buybacks, and hoarding their bounty by avoiding technologies, policies and legislation that would protect the population and environment and lower fuel costs, Big Oil insists on transferring all of that responsibility on the auto companies," Vines said, referring in part to a print advertisement by oil giant ExxonMobil that criticized the auto industry's record.
In the ad, ExxonMobil said the U.S. economy had become vastly more fuel-efficient since the first oil shock, "so why is the average fuel economy of American cars unchanged in two decades?"
The ad, which first appeared late last year, infuriated Detroit's auto executives. With the exception of Chrysler, U.S. automakers are losing money in their home market while oil companies are raking in record profits.
The sharp rise in gas prices has put a major dent in demand for some of the auto industry's most profitable vehicles, chiefly sport utility vehicles. After slumping last year, sales of the Ford Explorer, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango are down again this year.
The auto and oil industries have sparred over many issues over the years, such as who should pay for anti-pollution regulations. But they usually tend to fight behind the scenes.
"Now that the auto industry is taking a huge hit with gas prices and higher heating oil prices, you see a more aggressive response coming from auto executives saying we've got to fight back," said Mario Morrow, a media and political consultant who has his own firm, Mario Morrow and Associates, in Detroit.
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. officials declined to comment on the ad, although executives said they were aware of it.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group based in Washington, D.C., that represents leading automakers, said it was not coordinating a response to the ExxonMobil ad but defended the auto industry's steady improvements in fuel economy.
Spokesman Eron Shosteck said the auto industry is producing more than 1 million vehicles this year that have gas-electric drivetrains or can run on alternative fuels -- yet the oil industry has been slow to provide stations that offer alternative fuels.
There are 180,000 gas stations in the United States but only 500 ethanol stations, and most of those are in the upper Midwest.
"What we'd like to do is to work constructively with the oil companies to expand that fueling infrastructure," Shosteck said.
The alliance includes Detroit's automakers as well as foreign-based manufacturers such as Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and BMW.
Chrysler has gone out in front on this issue, Morrow said, but he expects other automakers to join in -- "I believe you'll see a consortium of forces coming out to beat up on the oil industry."
The counterattack may be effective, he said, because regular consumers have suffered from high home heating and gas prices. "So the consumer might be saying, 'There's someone out there finally fighting for the little guy.'"
ExxonMobil spokeswoman Prem Nair said the company stood by its advertisement and many of Vines' remarks did not warrant a response.
She pointed out the company has partnerships with several auto companies, including DaimlerChrysler, to develop lubricants, in part to improve fuel economy.
Karen Matusic, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, declined to comment.
Vines took responsibility for his remarks, saying he was acting as the spokesman for Chrysler but that CEO Tom LaSorda had not seen the comments before their posting on the site. However, Chrysler officials had carefully vetted the text, according to people at the company.
Executives at other automakers privately expressed support for Vines. Several had approached ExxonMobil about the ad.
Early reactions to the blog echoed Vines' sentiments.
"I wish I could meet him and shake his hand," one poster, identified as Al, wrote on the auto industry news site www.leftlanenews.com. "I agree with everything he says, and I admire the way he said it, directly to the point!"
Environmental activists accustomed to battling both industries were bemused by the feud.
"I'm happy to watch," said Daniel Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global warming program.
"Each industry is right -- that the other is to blame for a big part of the problem. The auto industry continues to make gas-guzzling vehicles with antiquated technology rather than using modern, fuel-efficient technology," Becker said.
"At the same time, the oil industry is perfectly happy to have people addicted to their product."
When it comes to developing new technology, "Each of them wants to play 'After you, Alfonse' with the other," Becker said.
Ford spokesman Oscar Suris had no comment. At GM, Chris Preuss said: "We're aware of the ad; we've seen it but didn't have a response from an official standpoint."
Prodded by the popularity of environmentally friendly hybrids introduced by the Japanese, Detroit's automakers have stepped up efforts to produce hybrids and vehicles that run on cleaner fuels.
"The auto industry is doing its job by building cleaner, leaner, more efficient vehicles and embracing alternatives to gasoline," Vines said in the blog.
"While we make these important and responsible strides Big Oil is swimming in profits, content to let the nation's drivers drown in rising prices, every time they fill up."
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/AUTO01/604110394
What this means to us:
About time somebody got frusterated and mad. :mad:
Rocky
The Facts on Rising Fuel Prices
By Jason Vines
Here we go again. Just as the weather warms and Americans are turning their thoughts to hitting the roads for vacations or weekend getaways, the prices of gasoline and diesel fuel are rising faster than the odds of the Detroit Lions playing the Super Bowl.
It's a "coincidence" that has nothing to do with chance, but almost everything to do with greed by the big oil companies.
Despite a documented history of blowing their exorbitant profits on outlandish executive salaries and stock buybacks, and hoarding their bounty by avoiding technologies, policies and legislation that would protect the population and environment and lower fuel costs, Big Oil insists on transferring all of that responsibility on the auto companies.
Yes, even tough the automakers have spent billions developing cleaner, more efficient technologies such as high-feature engines, hybrid powertrains, multi-displacement systems, flexible fuel vehicles, and fuel cells, Big Oil would rather fill the pockets of its executives and shareholders, rather than spend sufficient amounts to reduce the price of fuel, letting consumers, during tough economic times, pick up the tab.
Where's the proof? Put on your reading glasses, because there's plenty.
*In 2005, according to its financial report, ExxonMobil earned $36.1 billion, up $11 billion from 2004. Yet the oil giant isn't going to waste any of that dough on developing alternative fuels or significantly increase the amount of money it spends to find oil or refine it into gasoline, which would help boost supplies and raise prices. The company's own literature states, "current renewable technologies do not offer near-term promise for profitable investment relative to attractive opportunities that we see in our core business."
Last December 20, the Wall Street Journal reported that spikes in oil prices were due to "Big Oil's emphasis on profits over finding oil."
In fact, Big Oil vehemently opposed the renewable energy standard included in the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005. A Renewable Fuels Standard requires that a certain percentage of motor fuel in the U.S. must be obtained from renewable sources, such as ethanol or biodiesel. The auto industry strongly supported the Renewable Fuels Standard which will go a long way toward vastly reducing our dependency on imported oil. It will also boost employment in our country by an estimated 200,000 jobs by energizing the ethanol-producing industry and agriculture.
*Big Oil has repeatedly used the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina as a convenient excuse for sidestepping their responsibilities. Despite record 2005 profits, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and other oil giants have sought to delay national standards to lower sulfur content in fuels, pleading "Katrina relief." Big Oil wants a regional, rather than national approach to the issue, which would allow it to drag its feet on compliance. A national standard is needed because the advanced technologies we put into the vehicles depend on clean, low-sulfur fuel. The low emission vehicles of the next decade will be at what the industry calls "99 percent control level," which means there's not much more we can do through technology without cleaner fuels.
* Indeed, gas station owners accused ExxonMobil in particular for price gouging the wake of Katrina. The Federal Trade Commission is now investigating.
While Americans showed their generosity to Katrina victims by donating $500 million toward relief efforts, the four largest oil companies came up with relative pennies--$11 million total! Nevermind that ChevronTexaco facilities leaked six million gallons of oil into pristine Gulf wetlands in Katrina's aftermath--one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history.
*Katrina certainly took its toll on refineries, knocking several out of commission, but it's clear Big Oil has taken little action to shore up its capacity. According to an editorial in the Sept. 2, 2005 edition of the Washington Times, no new refineries have been built in a quarter century. "Yes, existing refineries have undergone significant expansion over the years as others have been shuttered," the editorial said, "but many of them are more than 30 years old. Already operating near total capacity before Katrina, the aging refinery infrastructure left little margin for error. Katrina, needless to say, obliterated that margin and then much more. Now we are paying the price, which, appropriately enough, has reflected itself in soaring gasoline prices around the nation."
*In December, ExxonMobil and BP were charged by Alaskan authorities with conspiring to withhold natural gas from U.S. markets by putting their heads together to slow the flow of the fuel to drive up prices, as we said.
*ExxonMobil had the gall to say in a recent print ads "Every form of transportation--planes, trains and automobiles--now benefits from improved fuels and engine systems. So why is that despite this overall progress, the average fuel economy of American cars is unchanged in two decades?"
That would be powerful--if it were true. According to the EPA's latest figures, 2005 model year vehicles averaged 21 miles per gallon--the "highest since 1996." In 1975, average fuel economy was just 13.1 miles per gallon.
The auto industry is doing its job by building cleaner, leaner, more efficient vehicles and embracing alternatives to gasoline such as biodiesel and ethanol and hybrids.
So while we make these important and responsible strides despite the challenges of global competition and legacy costs, Big Oil is swimming in profits, content to let the nation's drivers drown in rising prices, every time they fill up.
Rocky
I guess the one saving grace is that if prices ever truly shot through the roof, I could probably cut my driving down to about 35-40 miles per week. It's 3.5 miles to work, and there are two gas stations and a shopping plaza with a grocery store on the way. That would be kind of a boring existence, though...
And hopefully the cold season is over for good now, so I shouldn't need anymore heating oil until late fall...unless they just come out to top it off. But then, it did get cold enough the other nite that yesterday morning I was scraping ice off the windshield! :surprise:
I'm glad to hear that somebody in the auto industry is fighting back. We're finally starting to get some cool cars, (especially from Chrysler) and the oil companies seem to be doing everything to throw us back to the sour '70s. I don't want to be driving some detuned dog of a V-8 with 98 net hp like my Dad's 1981 T-Bird! It already sucks that I'm driving a 165 hp V-6 when I've got a 300-hp Northstar just sitting in the driveway. Oh well, girlfriend's birthday is only two days away.
Speaking of record profits, I hear Wal-Mart is so wealthy they want to open their own bank. Merchants of misery.
Shell = Shell-Shock
Gulf = Gulp
Texaco = Taxaco
Sunoco = Scumoco
Lukoil = Try-Your-Lukoil
Exxon = Ex Con
Getty = Gotti
BP = Big Pig
Coastal = Postal
Phillips 66 = Phillips 666
BTW you forgo Citgo. I tried, but the only ones I could come up with are obscene. :P
Vacation drives won't come cheap this summer
Report: Regular gas will average 25 cents higher than 2005
Tuesday, April 11, 2006; Posted: 9:52 a.m. EDT (13:52 GMT)
The national average retail price of regular gasoline is 40 cents per gallon higher than it was a year ago.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pump prices for gasoline are rising with the temperature, and likely will average about a 25 cents a gallon more than last summer, but not enough to keep people home.
The Energy Department's new "seasonal outlook," released Tuesday, projects that the price for regular grade gasoline will average $2.62 a gallon, barring any unexpected supply disruptions. Gasoline prices have soared since February.
Last week motorists paid on average $2.68 a gallon nationwide for regular, an 18-cent increase in two weeks and 40 cents higher than the national average a year ago.
Growing demand, high crude oil costs, requirements for low-sulfur gasoline and greater demand for corn-based ethanol as an additive all "are expected to keep consumer prices for motor fuels ... high in 2006," said the report by the department's Energy Information Administration.
The high prices are not expected to dampen demand during the April-September heavy driving season. Motorists are expected to use an average 9.4 million barrels of gasoline a day, or 1.5 percent more than last summer, according to the Energy Department agency.
The agency cautioned that prices can vary by 27 cents to 50 cents a gallon between different regions of the country and that prices could spike higher if there are unexpected supply disruptions caused by the weather or refinery problems.
Some analysts said gasoline could return to $3 a gallon or more if crude oil prices increase sharply or there is concern about hurricane damage to producers in the Gulf of Mexico.
The markets are likely to be more jittery about the weather this summer in light of the widespread disruption of Gulf oil and gasoline production caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year.
Gasoline spiked to a national average of $3.07 a gallon -- and considerably higher in some areas -- after last year's hurricanes.
"News of any developing hurricanes and tropical storms with a potential to cause significant new outages could add to (price) volatility ... in the latter part of the summer," said report said.
Prices at the pump have been climbing since February when the national average for the month was $2.25 a gallon.
High crude oil costs are partly to blame. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 61 cents to $69.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday Tuesday in Europe. The contract rose $1.35 to settle at $68.74 on Monday.
The Energy Department's report said that crude oil is expected to remain high, averaging $65 a barrel for the year. But it said gasoline costs are expected to outstrip crude prices as demand for gasoline remains high and refiners assume additional costs because of new low-sulfur requirements and the phaseout of a clean-air additive known as MTBE.
Three of the biggest refiners -- Valero Energy Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell Oil Co. -- said they will stop putting the additive into gasoline beginning May 5. Valero estimates that will shrink the nation's gasoline supply by 145,000 barrels a day.
At a congressional hearing last month, Guy Caruso, head of the Energy Information Administration, said about 130,000 barrels of ethanol, a substitute additive for MTBE, will be needed. That's about 50 percent of current output.
The demand for more ethanol has caused the price of the corn-based additive to surge to about $2.75 a gallon, an increase of about 50 cents a gallon.
The additives account for about 10 percent of gasoline volume in areas where they are used, so a 50-cent increase in ethanol translates into about a nickel a gallon boost in the fuel's cost to motorists.
Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group that represents the ethanol industry, told a Senate hearing last month that the industry will be able to meet ethanol demand even as refiners move away from using the additive.
He said the industry is filling East Coast ethanol storage tanks and contracting barges that can ship ethanol down the Mississippi River to Gulf Coast refiners and up the Atlantic seaboard.
"The market is responding," he said. But he also said it was the oil industry's decision to stop using MTBE this soon.
Last year, Congress as part of broad energy legislation lifted the requirement that refiners include 2 percent oxygenate -- ethanol -- in gasoline sold in areas having clean air problems, clearing the way for refiners to stop using the additive.
DrFill
Aren't we already fighting that war?
Maybe the oil companies are raising prices to force automaker to build more FE cars. Plus it pushes us into higher mileage cars.
I know, at least I didn't boldface it, I was going to!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I couldn't disagree more, FWIW, but regardless of why you believe we went to war, I think you'd be hard-pressed to deny that it has proven to be a perfect storm for the oil industry.
On the supply side, they've gotten the use of the United States military to seize and secure the territory sitting atop the world's second-largest proven oil reserves; land that's been strictly off-limits to them for 30+ years.
On the demand side, the war has helped to create a panic state where even a whisper of uncertainty, however plausible or implausible -- we're gonna go nuclear on Tehran; Hugo Chavez might blow a gasket; grading errors on the SATs; Johnny Sack crying at his daughter's wedding, etc. -- is enough to send prices spiraling upward. (Don't hold your breath waiting for prices to plummet based on all that previously unavailable Iraqi oil coming to market.)
Regardless of cause, the effects of this war have been virtually the same as a "war waged strictly for oil," imo.
ARCOruption
Prices in SF Bay Area in my neck are $279 if you can find it on up to $319 for premium in the high rent parts of town.
yep, big oil is sitting in the cat bird seat. They have consolidated to where a few heavy weights don't really have to compete and we are all fat dumb and helplessly pregnant. I'm feeling the same way with cell phone service providers as well.
I know that you are not one to let accuracy get in the way of a good story.
However, WalMart is attempting to start a bank to process credit card transactions thereby reducing the costs to all merchants. It doesn't seem to me to be such a bad deal - reducing waste in the process.
$2.75
$2.89
$2.99
One place looks like it's trying to undercut on the 87, but
$2.73
$2.93
$3.03
To date myself... as Arte Johnson used to say... verrrrry interesting, but screwy! :P
Hess and Exxon near my home: up 10 cents in one day to $2.69.
Closer to work, the Citgo and Exxon raised theirs 6 cents to $2.75.
The most I paid last year was $2.79 between Katrina and Rita.
Does he expect oil companies to lower prices out of the goodness of their hearts? Does DCX sell some of its new products at $6000 so less-well-off people can buy new?
If Jason owns a house whose market value has risen to $400,000, is he going to sell it for $200,000?
The roller coaster is heading up the yearly incline, dudes.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
My usual Sunoco truck stop, Palisades Park NJ
87 - $2.519
89 - $2.619
93 - $2.719
94 - $2.759
diesel - $2.599
kcram - Pickups Host
“So this is a real big mess on the refining end that's going to create a situation that's going to keep gasoline prices uncertain and potentially very explosive,” says Phil Flynn of the futures and options brokerage Alaron Trading.
The U.S. could have a future powered from the heartland and not overseas oil. But are Americans willing to pay for it?
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12289938/
Too bad Farmer Buck is getting screwed like the rest of us by BIG AG.
-juice
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
No, wait... never mind.
james
I can't believe you said that. Next you will want the apple orchards cut down and planted in corn or sugar beets.
It is a big part of the high price of gas. Refiners are scrambling for ethanol supplies and they are not available. No ethanol no gas. A gas shortage with plenty of gas available. The bright side is diesel is not affected. Diesel peaked out when CA started getting ULSD last year.