That's what it felt like hearing those "news" stories with some analyst saying, "Fill up NOW before the price at the pump goes up at least 25 cents next week."
And it's a sort of self-fulfilling gloom and doom prophecy. If people listening actually take the advice and run to the gas station to fill up, demand will have been increased and the price WILL go up.
I'm REALLY getting tired of the "we're all gonna die" quality of the news anymore.
it's still gonna go up 25 cents, so i filled everything up today. the other part is i don't like the owners of the cheapest place in town. i filled up for 10 cents more a gallon around he corner(1.99.9).
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
In Marin County, premium has jumped to $2.65/ regular is averaging around $2.20 and diesel is way up to $2.59. That .40 cents a gallon more for diesel certainly cancels out the supposed advantage of owning one, at least in San Francisco. I'm thinkin' $3 a gallon by summer.
When that scare came out, the Citgo held their prices, but Shell jumped up around 3-4 cents.
I lucked out on Friday though, while out running some errands, and found a Shell station about 10 miles away that had 87 for $1.799. I had about a half-tank, but decided to take advantage of it!
Prices here held for about 3 days on the doom and gloom news story. I find it interesting that the jump was pretty much half of the predicted 25 cent jump. Wonder if the other shoe drops for a 13 cent increase??
...I don't remember prices exactly, but was a bit shocked (it's been a couple weeks since I last bought gas) that they were around $2.229/2.329/2.429 for 87/89/93. Here's hoping someone in my home replaces one of the SUVs for a Scion or Corolla if these prices hold.
With price of gas over $2 a gallon most everywhere now, and in some places, way over $2, just how high will prices go?
I've said this before and I'm still a firm believer in that the U.S. cannot sustain $3 gas prices. Some of you point out that other countries pay a lot more for gas than we do, or the current price isn't as high as it has been in the past when you adjust for inflation. The fact is, prices are higher now than they've ever been here in the U.S., and other countries have learned how to survive by using less. The U.S. hasn't. This county's economy still completely revolves around the transportation system, and if the price of gas stays at or near $3 a gallon on permenant basis, it will destroy our economy. Do OPEC and big oil companies really want to bite the hand that feeds them? They need our economy to be strong. They need our economy to keep making money because they can't survive without us. Without the U.S., all companies in the business of selling oil would go bankrupt. So when, and at how much will the price of gas peak?
...but we could face a recession on the order of 1974-75 and 1981-82, not fun, but we'll get through it.
And I'm not so sure if OPEC will be forced to lower prices as much as happened before, what with rising demand in China.
It's probably true we're in a golden age of horsepower that's about to come to a screeching halt, and say good bye to the large ute as a fashion statement!
The Saudi oil minister said current oil prices were "unjustified."
I really think that prices are artificially high at the moment due to the way the commodity markets work.
At the pump, our local prices here are still holding at $1.99 after that 12 cent jump a while back. Have to wait and see what affect today's news does or doesn't have.
Everyone gets panicked this time of year by the price of gas as refineries switch over to the summer formula.
I wish that the EPA would limit the number of formulations required (the Chicago Tribune states that there are no less than six between Chicago and St. Louis).
At some price point, it is time to switch over to a complete ethanol usage for vehicles. It would be sort of interesting.
Like usual here in Illinois, Sams Club is 15 cents cheaper than the oil company gas stations and a nickle cheaper than Costco. They are always the last to jump up.
We don't need ethanol required. That's what ADM has been lobbying for since they control most of the ethanol production. Wonder why they'd want everyone to require ethanol???
What cost $1.00 in 1980 would cost $2.42 in 2003. (the inflation adjuster site I went to stopped at 2003 but you get the idea) http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
I'm pretty sure gas cost around $1.00 a gallon back in 1980.... I think part of the problem is, we're coming off historically LOW gas prices and back to more "normal" prices.
4,5,6 years ago when gas was still around $1 a gallon, that was just a historically low price.. that would be like 20 cents a gallon back in the 60's....no wonder people were buying all the Suburbans and Excursions, etc..
Ok, that proves my point even more - according to the inflation calculator site -
What cost $1.40 in 1981 would cost $2.98 in 2003.
So, while today's prices don't thrill me, and obviously I'd prefer it if gas was $1.25 a gallon right now, it's nothing that we haven't dealt with in the past - it's not "the highest gas prices ever" and the sky isn't falling
Cheapest I could find today was the Eastcoast station at US 1 and Springfield Ave, selling regular for $1.99 and middle for $2.14. Prices have shot way up here in the last week.
$1.979 at Liberty and "Lowest Price" $1.989 at Hess $1.999 at Exxon, Shell, Sheetz, and Citgo
So, we've got record crude oil prices, a record federal budget deficit, a record trade deficit, a falling dollar with no end in sight, and GM and Ford on the ropes. Meanwhile, Congress is concerned about steroid use in baseball.
If pro is the opposite of con, progress is the opposite of congress. Of course, it doesn't help when you endlessly bend over backwards for corporate interests and cowardly modern-day robber barons.
I paid $2.39 today for Chevron 92 in northern WA. I saw it upwards of $2.55 at some stations, and never lower than $2.29.
....someone was going to try to justify today's prices by stating they're not as high as they once were after adjusting for inflation. No matter what spin you put on it, today's prices are the highest they've ever been, period. You can try to justify that any way you can, but the average cost of gas has never been over $2 before, and until now, it never cost me $19 to fill up my little Tercel. Any way you look at it, these prices are ridiculous!.
...about this a long time ago, but we did virtually nothing about it. And we still can't agree on a solution.
At least my vehicles have 4-cylinder engines and run on 87.
Meanwhile on Congress's mind today, it's Terri Schiavo. While I have all the sympathy in the world for her, I don't think Congress has any business butting in at this time.
.....the powers to be seem to have no interest in addressing the issue. It's kind of like the movie "Jaws" where Richard Dryfuss says to Larry "You aren't going to do anything about this problem until it swims up and bites you in the [non-permissible content removed]!" Same thing here. Nothing will be done about this problem until our entire economy is on its way down the sewer pipe.
Filling up with diesel at 2pm today were me, 3 straight trucks, a semi, another diesel pickup, and a midsize shuttle bus.
The first shipments of diesel in April should be regular D2, not the more expensive (and less-efficient) winter mix. Home heating oil production will also be over, meaning more raw #2 for diesel fuel - diesel should be below regular unleaded by tax day.
Another small bump of 4 cents up to $2.13 in State College, and despite the continuous negative drumbeat in the news, it's starting to feel like a leveling off to me. Nothing specific to base that on, just a gut feeling. When they have the public stampeded in one direction, that's when things usually switch and they have to drive us in another direction
Today the BP station on the way to work was $2.09 for regular.
I'm going to "Cut Down" on my fuel consumption. Pleasure driving less (will borrow my son's Grand Theift Auto and begin to play it). Parking the pickup. Driving the sweet little Contour more...for commuting. Keeping top speed below 60mph.
This strategy should lower my consumption by atleast 25%. Probably more...
I guess I altered my driving a bit as the price approached $1.90. I try to double up tasks I have to get done and take one trip instead of two, and on days I don't have to I try to not take any. Now working out of the house helps, but yes, I'm exerting my little chunk of decreasing demand. I certainly don't rush out and fill up when a radio news story tells people to do so before the next increase. That's insane and probably contributes to short term demand increases, which make commodity traders lean even more to the upside, yada, yada...
Personally, I have not made any changes in response to this recent gas spike. I use 45 gallons per month MAX and an extra $45/mo on gas does not affect the budget that much as I don't have car payments.
Would use public transportation but that doesn't make financial sense as it is cheaper to drive until the gas hits $3.50/gal.
Drove by the closest gas station to work last night (Ashland and Lawrence), prices were $2.42/2.52/2.62, IIRC. Good thing I don't drive too much (~3 miles to work each way), this is getting a bit ridiculous.
My wife workd in Altoona, PA which is about 40 miles away, and in the past there generally has been a 5 to 10 cent difference in price between here and there. (In the current media panic over gas prices this has not been the case) There were times that it was DARN close to being worth it to drive there and back given the mileage I was getting and the price differential. As long as I could jusity the trip by actually having something to do or get there, I'd make the trip AND fill up. I never quite pulled the trigger on just "taking a ride' to fill up!
Comments
And it's a sort of self-fulfilling gloom and doom prophecy. If people listening actually take the advice and run to the gas station to fill up, demand will have been increased and the price WILL go up.
I'm REALLY getting tired of the "we're all gonna die" quality of the news anymore.
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Citgo: $1.899 for 87
Shell: $1.969 for 87
When that scare came out, the Citgo held their prices, but Shell jumped up around 3-4 cents.
I lucked out on Friday though, while out running some errands, and found a Shell station about 10 miles away that had 87 for $1.799. I had about a half-tank, but decided to take advantage of it!
Hess across from Sam's Club:
87 - $1.829
89 - $1.929
93 - $2.029
Shell just a couple miles away is $1.959 for 87. So is Sheetz about 10 miles away in the other direction.
I've said this before and I'm still a firm believer in that the U.S. cannot sustain $3 gas prices. Some of you point out that other countries pay a lot more for gas than we do, or the current price isn't as high as it has been in the past when you adjust for inflation. The fact is, prices are higher now than they've ever been here in the U.S., and other countries have learned how to survive by using less. The U.S. hasn't. This county's economy still completely revolves around the transportation system, and if the price of gas stays at or near $3 a gallon on permenant basis, it will destroy our economy. Do OPEC and big oil companies really want to bite the hand that feeds them? They need our economy to be strong. They need our economy to keep making money because they can't survive without us. Without the U.S., all companies in the business of selling oil would go bankrupt. So when, and at how much will the price of gas peak?
And I'm not so sure if OPEC will be forced to lower prices as much as happened before, what with rising demand in China.
It's probably true we're in a golden age of horsepower that's about to come to a screeching halt, and say good bye to the large ute as a fashion statement!
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050314/opec_9.html
The Saudi oil minister said current oil prices were "unjustified."
I really think that prices are artificially high at the moment due to the way the commodity markets work.
At the pump, our local prices here are still holding at $1.99 after that 12 cent jump a while back. Have to wait and see what affect today's news does or doesn't have.
I wish that the EPA would limit the number of formulations required (the Chicago Tribune states that there are no less than six between Chicago and St. Louis).
At some price point, it is time to switch over to a complete ethanol usage for vehicles. It would be sort of interesting.
Like usual here in Illinois, Sams Club is 15 cents cheaper than the oil company gas stations and a nickle cheaper than Costco. They are always the last to jump up.
We don't need ethanol required. That's what ADM has been lobbying for since they control most of the ethanol production. Wonder why they'd want everyone to require ethanol???
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Feb 25 $1.939
Mar 04 $2.139
Mar 08 $2.159
Mar 16 $2.219
Make it stopppp
kcram
Host - Wagons
(the inflation adjuster site I went to stopped at 2003 but you get the idea) http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
I'm pretty sure gas cost around $1.00 a gallon back in 1980.... I think part of the problem is, we're coming off historically LOW gas prices and back to more "normal" prices.
4,5,6 years ago when gas was still around $1 a gallon, that was just a historically low price.. that would be like 20 cents a gallon back in the 60's....no wonder people were buying all the Suburbans and Excursions, etc..
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The St Patrick's Day party...err... SUBARU CREW Chat is on tonight. Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
What cost $1.40 in 1981 would cost $2.98 in 2003.
So, while today's prices don't thrill me, and obviously I'd prefer it if gas was $1.25 a gallon right now, it's nothing that we haven't dealt with in the past - it's not "the highest gas prices ever" and the sky isn't falling
-Andrew L
$1.979 at Liberty and "Lowest Price"
$1.989 at Hess
$1.999 at Exxon, Shell, Sheetz, and Citgo
So, we've got record crude oil prices, a record federal budget deficit, a record trade deficit, a falling dollar with no end in sight, and GM and Ford on the ropes. Meanwhile, Congress is concerned about steroid use in baseball.
Is there something wrong with this picture?
I paid $2.39 today for Chevron 92 in northern WA. I saw it upwards of $2.55 at some stations, and never lower than $2.29.
At least my vehicles have 4-cylinder engines and run on 87.
Meanwhile on Congress's mind today, it's Terri Schiavo. While I have all the sympathy in the world for her, I don't think Congress has any business butting in at this time.
But you're right, once the economy is brought to its knees, then we'll get some action.
And cost to manufacture plutonium has increased a great deal...but they in iran are making progress with these increased revenues.
87 - $1.919
89 - $2.019
93 - $2.099
94 - $2.139
diesel - $2.159
Filling up with diesel at 2pm today were me, 3 straight trucks, a semi, another diesel pickup, and a midsize shuttle bus.
The first shipments of diesel in April should be regular D2, not the more expensive (and less-efficient) winter mix. Home heating oil production will also be over, meaning more raw #2 for diesel fuel - diesel should be below regular unleaded by tax day.
I'm going to "Cut Down" on my fuel consumption. Pleasure driving less (will borrow my son's Grand Theift Auto and begin to play it).
Parking the pickup. Driving the sweet little Contour more...for commuting. Keeping top speed below 60mph.
This strategy should lower my consumption by atleast 25%. Probably more...
City Average is 2.149
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The Subaru Crew Chat is on tonight. Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
Tuesday, 3/22 2.04
Wednesday, 3/23 2.07
Thursday, 3.24 2.11
I have seen it at high as 2.15 on Lee Highway near Rosslyn, VA.
I paid 1.95 on 3/20 in Rehoboth Beach, DE
Gas is usually cheaper closer I get to MD/DE line.
One Citgo station on Rt. 50 near Queenstown usually runs 5-8 cents less than all others.
Would use public transportation but that doesn't make financial sense as it is cheaper to drive until the gas hits $3.50/gal.
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News & Views, Wagons, & Hybrid Vehicles