Gasoline Price Checklist

EdFred

EdFred

Taxi to Parking
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National inventories up? Check
Price of crude dropping? Check
Price at the pump up 50 cents? Check.
Wait what?

We have the most expensive fuel in the country now. Currently 90 cents higher than other places.
 
But remember the oil company mantra. 'government subsidies good, there is no price gouging, these aren't the droids you are looking for'
 
EdFred said:
National inventories up? Check
Price of crude dropping? Check
Price at the pump up 50 cents? Check.
Wait what?

We have the most expensive fuel in the country now. Currently 90 cents higher than other places.
Click to expand...

price has been dropping steadily here for 2 or 3 weeks. 3.59 this morning
 
Didn't the DoJ recently report they were opening an investigation in to gasoline price fixing, or something like that?

Edit - no, maybe not. It looks like some state Attorneys General have, and some senators have called for a federal probe.
 
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I work in the oil and gas industry, and even we don't have a good explanation for the high gasoline prices. Oil is hanging around $100 a barrel and gasoline is higher now than 2-3 years ago when oil was $140 a barrel. The "evil" oil companies have little to do with the price of oil these days, and oil prices don't seem to have too much to do with the gas prices right anymore. WTH is going on. :dunno:
 
OkieFlyer said:
I work in the oil and gas industry, and even we don't have a good explanation for the high gasoline prices. Oil is hanging around $100 a barrel and gasoline is higher now than 2-3 years ago when oil was $140 a barrel. The "evil" oil companies have little to do with the price of oil these days, and oil prices don't seem to have too much to do with the gas prices right anymore. WTH is going on. :dunno:
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Could it be because gasoline consumption and pricing is a global thing and the dollar is falling in value?
 
I think it's done deliberately in Washington, in part to help the left convince the ignorant masses of how "evil" the oil industry is, which of course is a farce. And to help force us into their idea of a green society. But that's just me.
 
gismo said:
Could it be because gasoline consumption and pricing is a global thing and the dollar is falling in value?
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Oil is traded in dollars internationally. If the dollar was falling in value then the price of oil would be increasing and that is not happening right now.
 
Local news said it was due to 2 reasons:
1. Some refinery in Joliet is down for some reason
2. Switch to summer blends (more additives)
:dunno:
 
CJones said:
I'm pretty sure I heard that excuse when gas spiked right before winter last year.
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and that still doesn't explain why gas has dropped 25 or 30 cents here in the last 3 weeks.
 
March 18th (3/18) the lowest (87 octane) I found was $3.18.

March 25th $3.34

April 1st $3.95

There it hung til finally breaking the $4 mark on April 18th.

April 28th the lowest I found was $4.52.

On May 14th I drove to Chino (LA basin) and the lowest was $4.62.

May 25th I was stunned to see $3.99. I did a double take then immediately whipped a Crazy Ivan in traffic.

May 26th the lowest I found was $3.89.

June 2nd the lowest I found was $3.99.

Anecdotal and no graphs! Ta Da!
 
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If gas prices are not tied to supply or demand, it leaves only political hackery or speculation. Place your bets....
 
When the price of oil/gas increases the gas stations must raise their prices or lose money. But when the price of oil/gas goes down they aren't in any hurry to lower those pump prices. This is when they make the most profit. The only pressure to bring the price down is the competition from the station down the street and they aren't lowering thier price quickly either.
 
Richard said:
March 18th (3/18) the lowest (87 octane) I found was $3.18.

March 25th $3.34

April 1st $3.95

There it hung til finally breaking the $4 mark on April 18th.

April 28th the lowest I found was $4.52.

On May 14th I drove to Chino (LA basin) and the lowest was $4.62.

May 25th I was stunned to see $3.99. I did a double take then immediately whipped a Crazy Ivan in traffic.

May 26th the lowest I found was $3.89.

June 2nd the lowest I found was $3.99.

Anecdotal and no graphs! Ta Da!
Click to expand...

Bonus points for Clancy reference :D
 
MadseasoN said:
When the price of oil/gas increases the gas stations must raise their prices or lose money. But when the price of oil/gas goes down they aren't in any hurry to lower those pump prices. This is when they make the most profit. The only pressure to bring the price down is the competition from the station down the street and they aren't lowering thier price quickly either.
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Which leads to seeing the value in hedging.

Sometimes stations (or FBOs) get stuck with a tank full of higher priced fuel when the price is falling. But other than that, they make their money rising or falling.

I am interested to know why you say they make the most profit at a specific index.
 
CJones said:
It would be interesting (though probably not possible) to see the relationship between prices listed on the eia.gov website with the total consumption in gallons for the same timeframes.
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I suppose you could derive valid stats in even a local market. The retail prices are readily available. So just get the sales volume information from a few select stations in the same market. A university (research studies) may have better success in acquiring that data.

Actually, a field study involving only a local market may be more vaild since the results would be less influenced by national trends which tend to hide local fluctuations.
 
tonycondon said:
and that still doesn't explain why gas has dropped 25 or 30 cents here in the last 3 weeks.
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It's dropped here, too, about 20 cents or so in the past ~3 weeks.

Of course, AvGas is still north of $6.
 
Wow, Ed you guys are really getting screwed......
Red Line = Grand Rapids.
From Gasbuddy.com
 

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I have arrived at two conclusions regarding gas prices. IT SUCKS! and IT'S PI$$IN' ME OFF!

I haven't seen $4/gal for 87 octane here yet. I hope it doesn't get there, but I'm sure it will. I think $3.89 is the most I've paid to date.

Here's my theory. The gas prices will remain a major problem until just before the next presidential election, then miraculously, the Obama admistration will come up with some grand plan that will relieve the gas prices, even though it's probably they that are causing the high prices to begin with. Now they are the great relievers of the gas burden and win a bunch of votes. Once again, just my little theory.

ch.gaschart
 
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Not sure if this is higher or lower than in the past but it was today, about two hours ago in San Bruno, CA.
 

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OkieFlyer said:
I think it's done deliberately in Washington, in part to help the left convince the ignorant masses of how "evil" the oil industry is, which of course is a farce. And to help force us into their idea of a green society. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

OkieFlyer said:
Here's my theory. The gas prices will remain a major problem until just before the next presidential election, then miraculously, the Obama admistration will come up with some grand plan that will relieve the gas prices, even though it's probably they that are causing the high prices to begin with. Now they are the great relievers of the gas burden and win a bunch of votes. Once again, just my little theory.
Click to expand...

I sense a certain commonality in your posts here......

I think that commodities traders have seen just how much money can be made by churning the shares of oil futures. They make money when you buy. They make money when you sell.
Oil companies have structured their profits such that whenever the price of their raw material goes up their net profits go up. On the other hand, when the price of lumber goes up the profits of the homebuilder go down unless he raises prices, and loses market share.
Bottom line, the oil industry's an unique animal, but whatcha gonna do? :dunno:
 
no reason to get mad about it, it is what is is. i just close my eyes and swipe the credit card whenever ol' blue needs filled up.

i believe i remember hearing the same theory from the last time gas prices were up and there was a presidential election. i don't remember it happening.

OkieFlyer said:
I have arrived at two conclusions regarding gas prices. IT SUCKS! and IT'S PI$$IN' ME OFF!

I haven't seen $4/gal for 87 octane here yet. I hope it doesn't get there, but I'm sure it will. I think $3.89 is the most I've paid to date.

Here's my theory. The gas prices will remain a major problem until just before the next presidential election, then miraculously, the Obama admistration will come up with some grand plan that will relieve the gas prices, even though it's probably they that are causing the high prices to begin with. Now they are the great relievers of the gas burden and win a bunch of votes. Once again, just my little theory.

ch.gaschart
Click to expand...
 
tonycondon said:
no reason to get mad about it, it is what is is. i just close my eyes and swipe the credit card whenever ol' blue needs filled up.
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That's what I do too. That's also why I have no idea if the gas price in the picture I posted is higher or lower than normal for the area. It just seems higher than what other people are saying.
 
tonycondon said:
no reason to get mad about it, it is what is is. i just close my eyes and swipe the credit card whenever ol' blue needs filled up.

i believe i remember hearing the same theory from the last time gas prices were up and there was a presidential election. i don't remember it happening.
Click to expand...

It just irritates me when we pay exorbitant prices unnecessarily. If it was a matter of supply and demand, it wouldn't bother me. There is just way more going on here, and I don't like it. I don't even buy much gas because I drive a company vehicle, it's just the principle of the matter. Something stinks.
 
OkieFlyer said:
I think it's done deliberately in Washington, in part to help the left convince the ignorant masses of how "evil" the oil industry is, which of course is a farce. And to help force us into their idea of a green society. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

Heh... that's just the additional $1.50/gal in taxes... so people don't know how really cheap it is. Last I checked, a gallon of "purified water" cost 3x the price of a gallon of gasoline minus the taxes.
 
ScottM said:
Where are you buying your gas that you are paying $15/gal???
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Where'd you get $15?!

ScottM said:
According to these stats
http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp

a $3.80/gal of gas has only 10% of the cost due to taxes. That would be $.38/gal for the mathematically challenged ;)
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Those stats are from the same people "investigating" the prices. Not sure if they have all the numbers what they're "investigating" but hey, it makes for good TV sound bites, I suppose.

I was being a bit over the top, of course... my point was a portion of what makes gasoline so "expensive" is the non-graudated-scale of added taxes. In theory, a per-gallon tax means those who burn more fuel pay more... but in times of speculation, it's a great way to boost tax revenue. Think about that one for a bit...

Anyway, in reality, we pay $0.22/gal here in gas taxes, and 3% or more on top of that in Sales Taxes.
 
denverpilot said:
Where'd you get $15?!
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Well I derived it from what you said.
denverpilot said:
Heh... that's just the additional $1.50/gal in taxes.
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If the taxes are $1.50 and those are 10% of the cost of a gallon of gas then it must stand that:

Cost * .10 = $1.50
Cost = $1.50/.1 or $15



denverpilot said:
Anyway, in reality, we pay $0.22/gal here in gas taxes, and 3% or more on top of that in Sales Taxes.
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So in reality not anywhere near the grossly inflated number you first stated and much closer to the one in the stats from the people that you question on their accuracy. Got it, I think we know where the more accurate and truthful number comes from now.

denverpilot said:
I was being a bit over the top, of course.
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I think that was obvious in your initial assertion which is why I questioned it. Yeah it is fun to blow things out of proportion to make a point, but don't expect to have your point taken seriously.
 
ScottM said:
I think that was obvious in your initial assertion which is why I questioned it. Yeah it is fun to blow things out of proportion to make a point, but don't expect to have your point taken seriously.
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Never did expect that. It was meant to be a gross exaggeration.

Just figured I'd throw some levity into the otherwise endless guesswork surrounding what's actually very simple economics.

"They" charge $4.00/gal because you'll pay it. Pure and simple.

"They" know there's not a single cheaper technology yet that anyone can purchase that can move people around in autos/trucks that's able to under-cut their product.

Politicians will make vapidly populist noises about "investigations" while devaluing the dollar at every turn of the Fed's "printing press" that they authorized. Meanwhile they will be cashing large checks from various energy industry organizations at their $1000/plate fundraisers.

They'll also continue to complain about "lower tax revenues" when every increase in fuel price, nets them an increase in fuel taxes collected, if equal amounts of fuel are purchased. And there's the rub... people conserve and buy less fuel, the politicians will again complain they're "losing money".

Everything a politician does is to continue the charade that other people need them so they can keep living off everyone else's dime.
 
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