somewhere in the cornfields west of Macungie, I think it was called Kutztown or something like that, I filled up at a Hess station for $1.739 a gallon, 87 octane.
Back here at home, the Shell station on my way to work is down a bit, to $1.939 a gallon for 87. I didn't notice the Citgo sign this morning, but I think they're still around $1.969 a gallon. They seem to be reacting slower than the Shell station.
Andre, were you able to find I-78 from Kutztown? I hope I didn't send you in the wrong direction. Is the Turkey Hill still there? Gas was always the cheapest there when I went to school, but you got what you paid for. My 1968 Buick ran awful on that stuff.
Anyone who's headed to Galax VA for the Fiddler's Convention or to Hillsville for the big Flea Market can expect gas prices from the low of $1.789 in Hillsville for regular 87 octane, up to a high of $1.899 for regular 87 at all the gas stations at Exit 14 off of I-77. Each level of octane increases with 10 cent intervals at each station.
yeah, we found I-78 eventually, but somehow I missed the turnoff in Kutztown. I forget what road I ended up taking to get to I-78, but I do remember driving across what looked like a dam. Hard to tell in the dark, though! It was still probably quicker though, than backtracking to Macungie and going up to I-78.
Yesterday, the talk in the news was about OPEC raising cruide oil production while at the same time prices at the pump jumped from $1.67 to $1.93. In light of the news one would think the price would do just the opposite. Does anyone have an explination for this unexplainable trend?
Honestly, I think that the price of crude is not a function of any REALITY. It's the result of the actions of those speculating on the price of crude. And yes, that's the way the commodities markets work, but this is heading towards silly.
Everybody seems to be reacting to EVERY piece of "news" as if things are going to go in the direction of that news, good or bad, forever.
"Yesterday, the talk in the news was about OPEC raising cruide oil production while at the same time prices at the pump jumped from $1.67 to $1.93. In light of the news one would think the price would do just the opposite."
As pf_flyer noted, the price of oil in relation to any news is not always intuiitive. Further, people in general need to get away from this concept of x news=y reaction in oil prices=z change in gas prices tomorrow. Oil traded today is sold as a futures contract. That means whatever oil is trading for today is for oil to be delivered months ahead.
That also means there's a lag between a change in oil prices and a change in gas prices. I don't read too much into anything oil prices do because it doesn't tell me anything about what gas prices will do.
Gasoline itself is traded as a commodity, too. Prices get raised today on speculation and/or fear that inventories will run low, production will cease somewhere, whatever. Supply/demand DO have a lot to do with it. Just not on the level of: how much gas in my local station's tanks compared to how much the drivers want to buy?
It's big picture: China is rapidly becoming a monster user of oil and that diverts a lot of crude that could be turned into gas here. Iraq's production is all over the board. Their total production is 2% of the world's daily use--doesn't sound like a lot--but take 2% of the available product out of the mix and you've got an issue. Political turmoil in Venezuela--another strike means 5% of the world's supply gone for however long (doesn't look now like that should be a problem). In addition to Russia's by-far-#1 producer being threatened by bankruptcy. They can still pump lots of oil out--they can actually produce (i.e., yank out of the ground) a lot more than they can pump out of there to the world market. Not an issue for now in reality, but the market gets scared when a producer like that just stops producing oil (if that were to happen--Yukos (sp?) produces nearly as much as Iraq can on its best day).
Compounding the problem is most of OPEC has entirely disregarded an quota that exists now and are pretty much at full hilt. The Saudis can produce more, but it's not flipping switch from slow to fast. It means literally bringing additional production capability on line. And they're basically the only country that can do it now.
Finally, add in the fact that winter nears closer, more and more crude will be refined into heating oil and other products and less into gasoline. Demand should drop as driving lessens here, but it doesn't really apply to China, who still will be sucking oil like there's no tomorrow.
Like I've said before, it's uncertainty/instability that riles these markets and the prices. Fortunately, despite a $10 bbl increase since late June, we really haven't seen a comparable increase in pump prices--at least in most places.
I saw an article in a recent National Geographic magazine which was titled "The end of cheap oil?" It was a pretty scarey article in that it basically pointed out that the world's demand is growing faster than the supply. What's even scarier is the fact that this information is known and yet the development of alternative powered vehicles (APV's) is prodding along at a snail's pace. I certainly hope auto manufacturers don't wait until gas gets to $5 a gallon before before they finally decide to get into APV development full bore. Something like this could bring our entire nation down to its knees!
I'm focussing on the part that there's not an ifinite supply of crude oil. In light of this fact, why wait until the price of gas gets so high that APV's have to be developed. Wouldn't we be that much further ahead of the game if they were developed now? I just don't understand they're waiting for.
1) I think that automakers have been working on alternative fuel vehicles for years. DO REALIZE that the automakers are not going to develop vehicles that can't be sold. When the demand for hybrids rises above a niche level, most of the OEMs will be ready.
2)I have been hearing dire predictions that oil will run out by the year ... 1968, 1970, 1973, etc. Those fold espousing such views do themselves a disservice by overstating their case.
3) On a personal level, I am not going to buy a hybrid until 1) the technology has been proven to be reliable, 2) the cost of the vehicle is in line with similar gas-powered vehicles, etc. An extra 0.50 a gallon equates to about an extra $3.50 in the HH budget a week.
....they're just a band-aid and not a long term fix. They still run on gasoline. What I consider true APV's are vehicles powered by CNG or hydrogen. What I'm worried about is the auto makers won't develop these APV's to the point whereas they could put them into full production if required, until this country gets into a bind. The development should be in place now so if something catostrophic occures (like the price of oil continues to rise like it is now), APV's could go into full production at a moment's notice. I can gurantee you the auto makers aren't close to being at that point yet.
$1.77 today in Crystal Lake, IL, only 65 miles from Ghulet. And I have been told that there are lower prices in Algonquin and Lake In The Hills along Randall Rd.
I was a bit surprised today on my trip that 87 octane was $1.899, which is only 10-15 cents cheaper than in the north side of Chicago. Oh well, at least a carton of cigarettes there is about $30, which is a full $20 less than here, so my brother saved some money. Fortunately, smoking is one of the few addicitions that never interested me in the least.
is about to run dry, and it has a tank that's like 26 or 27 gallons. I know this is gonna be painful! This might be the most expensive fill-up I've ever had!
damn thing took like 24 gallons. I put in 93 octane, and I think it was like $2.119 a gallon. Total bill came out over 50 bucks. I'd like to pretend that money helps feed and clothe a poor little homeless Middle Eastern Child, but somehow I doubt it! :-/
Just within the last week, our prices have gone from $1.85, down to $1.61, back up to $1.84, and down to $1.74 yesterday. The way the prices jump around here make no sense whatsoever! This can't possibly be due to market volitility because the market itself doesn't fluxuate this quickly or this drastically. I'm beginning to think all this lunacy is caused by local station owners exercising their own version of market instability.
noticed that Casey's Mini-Mart in St.James, MO, was selling 87 no-lead for $1.66/gal. I'll have to notice the price tomorrow and see if this is some kind of goofy see-saw here in mid-Missouri as well!
Our gas prices shot up $.08 on September 1st after the month long no gas tax, it was a nice break. Then boom, here comes Frances! Living outside of Ft. Lauderdale, we missed the full fury, yet our power was out for 2 1/2 days and things are worse as one goes north. I heard of hour long gas lines on the turnpike and some local stations...while most had no power to pump the gas. The 3 ports in Florida were also closed for the storm, then state troopers were needed to get the gas to the stations! I've been through some nasty hurricanes in my 35 years living in South Florida. We were pretty lucky this time. Those north of us weren't so lucky. Please everyone, join me and say a prayer for all those who are suffering still through Frances and Charly!
The Sandman :-) Happy our family survived with minimal discomfort
I'm up here after dropping my son off at prep school in New Hampshire, and I can't believe the prices for 87 octane. $2.13 to $2.17 seems to be the norm near my hotel in the Elmsford area...unbelieveable! Even with another storm heading our way at home, I'm ready to go back to South Florida and pay under $2.00/ gallon! Please say a prayer for us Floridians...we need all we can get right about now!
at a Citgo in Laurel MD, about 11 miles away from me, for $1.769 a gallon, 87 octane. The two closest stations to my house, a Citgo and a Shell, are still holding at $1.939 and $1.919, respectively. I didn't drive all that way just to get gas, though...I was on my way back from Baltimore. I did see prices as low as $1.739 a gallon in Baltimore, but they weren't in the nicest neighborhoods in the world, so I think the extra 3 cents a gallon was worth not getting mugged/carjacked over! Although with my luck, if it was going to happen, it would happen right outside my front door!
Just paid $1.79 for 87 octane on the way to BWI to turn the rental in. Wife told me the prices are still around $1.90 down in South Florida. Two more days, then back home to Ft. Lauderdale!
in from hot and muggy Missouri! I got gas tonight in Rolla, MO, at the Phillips 66 station near Rolla Technical Institute. And what did I happily pay? $1.69/gal for 87 no-lead, I did! And because I got 8 gallons or more of gas, I got this cute little game piece with those scratch off silvers. The result? Please try again...come back and get all of your gas right here with us!
somewhere on the magnitude of the final scene of "Dune", when the heavens opened up and it started to rain. The 2 gas stations between my house and work, have just slashed their prices. Citgo's plummeted to $1.799 a gallon (from $1.919) and Shell fell to $1.819, from $1.939. For the longest time, Citgo and Shell would both alternate back and forth between $1.939 and $1.919.
Looks like the fuel's flowing cheap again! Hemis and tailfins forever!! ;-)
Gas price response. The gasoline in this area seems to be from 3 suppliers. BP, Marathon, and Shell. There may be a fourth now with Mobil/Exxon having entered with their UDF stations.
Marathon has a lot of stations under its subsidiaries names. They all raise their prices at the same time along with the ones that are supplied by Marathon. Then they start dribbling back down in price at different rates. Other companies rise and fall in response to the group that Marathon controls. Krogers I haven't figured out yet, but I would guess it's a private supplier from east of Cincinnati for this area. I've never seen a truck delivering at Krogers.
Two years ago it was clockwork that the gas prices went up early Thursday and down on Sunday. But the publicity with the gas pricing has changed the pattern. I think it just changes so that the obvious pattern is broken -- to avoid the controlled competition and pricing complaint.
The price does fluctuate some now based on bad news -- like oil wells in Gulf being down. But good news doesn't seem to have much effect.
Note that Gasamerica, Speedway, Marathon are all the same company. The first two add alcohol to the fuel, which I don't buy. The company supplies some others which sometimes don't have alcohol and some of them do. Watch who goes up at the same time and you'll see who is supplied and controlled by Marathon. Watch Meijers, Clark, along with the three above.
in SW Ohio its the suppliers. Marathon has a lot of stations and can raise prices, except for some gas war locations. When I travel to other areas the gas prices seem much more erratic.
There's an area here where Kroger's has opened two stations with their stores and a Sam's Club and gas is always lower there shortly after it rises all around. It may go up in the region but some stations are quicker to drop back down.
Paid $1.89 per gallon yesterday to fill up with 87 regular at a 76 station. Other local stations (closer to the interstate) are at $1.93 and $1.96 respectively. We took a trip to the Oregon coast this week... beautiful area! The prices were much higher there, though. Range from $1.99 to $2.13 for 87 regular.
We just spent exactly $34.00 to fill up my S.O.'s Wrangler, definitely a new record. I think we paid $2.129 a gallon for 89 octane, and that was at a Clark station, not even one of the 'biggies'. We're fairly certain his next car will be a Corolla, mainly for the gas mileage.
Comments
Back here at home, the Shell station on my way to work is down a bit, to $1.939 a gallon for 87. I didn't notice the Citgo sign this morning, but I think they're still around $1.969 a gallon. They seem to be reacting slower than the Shell station.
Everybody seems to be reacting to EVERY piece of "news" as if things are going to go in the direction of that news, good or bad, forever.
A collective deep breath might help things...
Oh yea... State College, PA $1.79 for 87
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
As pf_flyer noted, the price of oil in relation to any news is not always intuiitive. Further, people in general need to get away from this concept of x news=y reaction in oil prices=z change in gas prices tomorrow. Oil traded today is sold as a futures contract. That means whatever oil is trading for today is for oil to be delivered months ahead.
That also means there's a lag between a change in oil prices and a change in gas prices. I don't read too much into anything oil prices do because it doesn't tell me anything about what gas prices will do.
It's big picture: China is rapidly becoming a monster user of oil and that diverts a lot of crude that could be turned into gas here. Iraq's production is all over the board. Their total production is 2% of the world's daily use--doesn't sound like a lot--but take 2% of the available product out of the mix and you've got an issue. Political turmoil in Venezuela--another strike means 5% of the world's supply gone for however long (doesn't look now like that should be a problem). In addition to Russia's by-far-#1 producer being threatened by bankruptcy. They can still pump lots of oil out--they can actually produce (i.e., yank out of the ground) a lot more than they can pump out of there to the world market. Not an issue for now in reality, but the market gets scared when a producer like that just stops producing oil (if that were to happen--Yukos (sp?) produces nearly as much as Iraq can on its best day).
Compounding the problem is most of OPEC has entirely disregarded an quota that exists now and are pretty much at full hilt. The Saudis can produce more, but it's not flipping switch from slow to fast. It means literally bringing additional production capability on line. And they're basically the only country that can do it now.
Finally, add in the fact that winter nears closer, more and more crude will be refined into heating oil and other products and less into gasoline. Demand should drop as driving lessens here, but it doesn't really apply to China, who still will be sucking oil like there's no tomorrow.
Like I've said before, it's uncertainty/instability that riles these markets and the prices. Fortunately, despite a $10 bbl increase since late June, we really haven't seen a comparable increase in pump prices--at least in most places.
87 - $1.839
89 - $1.939
93 - $2.039
94 - $2.089
diesel - $1.779
kcram
Host
Smart Shopper and Wagons Message Boards
Scientific American, September 1904
"The world's petroleum production for 1903 stands at 20,000,000 tons... The demand for production greatly exceeds present production."
While I'm not suggesting that oil is an infinite resource, technological advances and discoveries of new sources DO come around.
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
What's next?
2)I have been hearing dire predictions that oil will run out by the year ... 1968, 1970, 1973, etc. Those fold espousing such views do themselves a disservice by overstating their case.
3) On a personal level, I am not going to buy a hybrid until 1) the technology has been proven to be reliable, 2) the cost of the vehicle is in line with similar gas-powered vehicles, etc. An extra 0.50 a gallon equates to about an extra $3.50 in the HH budget a week.
The wife paid $1.75 in Altoona this afternoon. The market seems chaotic to say the least.
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
87 octane $2.179
89 octane $2.269
93 octane $2.359
$2.049, more or less, is about the cheapest I've seen 87 here in the past week or two.
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I heard of hour long gas lines on the turnpike and some local stations...while most had no power to pump the gas. The 3 ports in Florida were also closed for the storm, then state troopers were needed to get the gas to the stations!
I've been through some nasty hurricanes in my 35 years living in South Florida. We were pretty lucky this time. Those north of us weren't so lucky.
Please everyone, join me and say a prayer for all those who are suffering still through Frances and Charly!
The Sandman :-)
Happy our family survived with minimal discomfort
But it's still around $1.90 here in the "NYC" part of CT (SW Fairfield county/Stamford area).
Please say a prayer for us Floridians...we need all we can get right about now!
The Sandman :-(
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Two more days, then back home to Ft. Lauderdale!
The Sandman :-)
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
Chat is on TONIGHT. Check out the schedule
Looks like the fuel's flowing cheap again! Hemis and tailfins forever!! ;-)
The gasoline in this area seems to be from 3 suppliers. BP, Marathon, and Shell. There may be a fourth now with Mobil/Exxon having entered with their UDF stations.
Marathon has a lot of stations under its subsidiaries names. They all raise their prices at the same time along with the ones that are supplied by Marathon. Then they start dribbling back down in price at different rates. Other companies rise and fall in response to the group that Marathon controls. Krogers I haven't figured out yet, but I would guess it's a private supplier from east of Cincinnati for this area. I've never seen a truck delivering at Krogers.
Two years ago it was clockwork that the gas prices went up early Thursday and down on Sunday. But the publicity with the gas pricing has changed the pattern. I think it just changes so that the obvious pattern is broken -- to avoid the controlled competition and pricing complaint.
The price does fluctuate some now based on bad news -- like oil wells in Gulf being down. But good news doesn't seem to have much effect.
Note that Gasamerica, Speedway, Marathon are all the same company. The first two add alcohol to the fuel, which I don't buy. The company supplies some others which sometimes don't have alcohol and some of them do. Watch who goes up at the same time and you'll see who is supplied and controlled by Marathon. Watch Meijers, Clark, along with the three above.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
There's an area here where Kroger's has opened two stations with their stores and a Sam's Club and gas is always lower there shortly after it rises all around. It may go up in the region but some stations are quicker to drop back down.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
State College, PA
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
Anaheim $2.08
And back home again in State College, PA
$1.95