Gas is not expensive enough yet?

[Bill in Utah]

While on my short trip from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas this last week, I drove the speed limit which is 75 mph.

I noticed mostly everyone driving like gas is cheap.

I'm talking about the SUV or Trucks going by me like I was standing still. 85-90 mph easy.

Downshifting while going around me from their top gear to the next one (3rd or 4th) while at that speed!

I did notice a few Semis going slower and even one with a sign on it's trailer stating that they are driving at 60 mph to save Fuel.

While at one gas stop, The guy on the other side had a Ford SUV (Explorer

I don't know, How high will it have to get???

It's too high for me...

Anyone want to buy my truck?

Even at 20 mpg avg it's $$ to drive around...

Take care, Bill

 

[moribundman]

How high will it get? Well, let's see. I just talked to a relative in Germany and premium gas was just about twice of what I pay currently, which is $3 a gallon. Now, if the average German is willing to pay $6 per gallon, how much do you think the average American is willing to pay? Because Americans have, on average, to drive longer distances, the price will probably always be lower in the US. Since most Euro cars are more frugal than US cars, at least in their most popular versions, the overall gas cost for operating a car will probably be the same here and there. One result of global markets are similar prices. Gone are the times where a pair of Levis would cost $22 in the US and $100 in Europe.

I keep my monthly gas cost the same, regardless of price. I allot a certain amount for gas per month. Higher gas prices simply mean I drive less. I have the luxury of doing that, many don't.

 

[kenw]

Remember, except for smallish distribution costs, the price of the "gasoline" is the same here as in Germany.

Taxes make up the difference, and lordy lordy help us if we ever approach the tax rates in Europe.

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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Taxes make up the difference, and lordy lordy help us if we ever approach the tax rates in Europe.

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I wish they'd use at least some tax money to fix and maintain CA roads so that I don't keep ruining tires and bending wheels in foot-deep potholes on a regular basis.

Anyway, the tax(es) on gas will get higher. And with too many people driving wasteful cars there's really no good reason to not raise taxes.

 

[fuel tanker man]

Wholesale gasoline and diesel have dropped about 12 cents per gallon in the last two days. Not sure what it'll do today, but I doubt we'll see any hard trend down till after Labor Day.

Competition is what is supposed to regulate the fuel prices. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If the dominant retailer in a given area doesn't lead the prices down, then no one will follow him. It takes at least THREE powerful retailers in a small market to really see the prices start to fall. Two stations--even though they may be big players--rarely tempt each other down.

It was mentioned on Neil Cavuto the other day that XOM began 2005 with 18 billion dollars in cash in the bank. They now have 26 billion dollars in cash in the bank. Hey--they're in the business to make money, so more power to them--but this immense profit simply points up the fact that XOM is "profit taking," and seemingly, like the other big players, taking advantage of the market climate.

Q. "How much is a gallon of your gasoline, Sir?"

A. "How much you got, Bubba?"

Yes, the cost of crude oil has gone up exponentially--but the profit takers aren't just the refiners and distributors--the retailers are lapping up the cream too...

I know what the wholesale, delivered cost of gasoline is to the retailers in my area (I'm in the business of delivering it). Some of these stations (Sheetz, Go Mart in particular) which used to ensure the lowest gas prices no longer seem interested in pricing low. They are making between 15 and 25 cents per gallon in many cases--believe it or not. The average used to be around a nickel...

They're just getting on the bandwagon. Everyone has been conditioned to expect high fuel prices, and the retailers have figured out just how much we are willing to pay.

It is unlikely we'll ever see fuel prices drop to where they were a year ago. A new "standard of tolerance" has been set in America. We are wincing at gasoline at 2.50 per gallon, but when it gets back around 2 dollars a gallon (which it will) we'll feel like it's okay.

We should have seen this all coming when the big oil companies began to merge together a few years back. There simply isn't enough competition in the industry these days to drive the costs down.

Dan

 

[Big John]

Crude is extracted from the ground,loaded on a tanker,tanker moves it across the ocean,crude is off loaded and trucked to a refinery,crude is refined,gas is the loaded up and shipped to your local station and off-loaded,consumer comes and buys for 2.50-3.00 bucks = pretty good bargain,as the same person who paid that for his/her gas walks into the station and buys a bottle of water for the same price,something you can get out of your tap at home for mere pittence...

I hear alot of people here locally complaining about how high gas is yet not one person has adjusted their driving habits...

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

quote:

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Originally posted by Big John:
person who paid that for his/her gas walks into the station and buys a bottle of water for the same price,something you can get out of your tap at home for mere pittence...

I hear alot of people here locally complaining about how high gas is yet not one person has adjusted their driving habits...

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True but I'm sure its a volume thing. If the store had a 1000gallon tank of filtered water and you pumped it out into your own container it'd probably be gal. And if gas came in a little 16oz separate container it would probably be >$12/gal.
Yeah it sure doesn't seem like people are adjusting their driving! I wish I could. Actually we cancelled a downstate weekend minivacation.
That's got to be good for the economy! Jack those taxes up to keep prices high! I know how you should drive better than you do!

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jason Troxell:
Jack those taxes up to keep prices high! I know how you should drive better than you do!

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I wouldn't mind seeing gas taxes go higher if I the gumnt would do something intelligent with the money.

Reality is that they wouldn't do something intelligent so I would mind.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by moribundman:
I wish they'd use at least some tax money to fix and maintain CA roads so that I don't keep ruining tires and bending wheels in foot-deep potholes on a regular basis.

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I've often wondered if the various state government would ever stoop so low as to purposefully not maintain roads in order to get public support for a tax increase.

"Want those potholes fixed? Well, we don't have enough money..we need to raise taxes..."

 

[eljefino]

My driving habits haven't changed... they've been frugal since gas was $1.75. Going to the store on the way home from work, etc.

I hit up garage sales on saturdays for cheap goods for ebay/half.com and usually come out ahead of the $3-4 I spend on gas. I kill the motor and roll to a stop when I see cars lined up on the side of the road. I am the only one; most leave their cars running. And it's not for the A/C, their windows are down! I also kill the motor for trains and might start doing it for long traffic lights.

The only person who does what I do, only better, apparantly runs an antique shop. I followed her to a couple of sales, coincidentally, and she had one of those 30MPG diesel Sprinter vans full of newly-acquired furniture.

 

[Pablo]

I still cannot figure what Washington state is doing with our tax dollars. The only thing I can find are multimillion dollar studies, to see if they need to do a study.

 

[keith]

quote:

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Originally posted by kenw:
Remember, except for smallish distribution costs, the price of the "gasoline" is the same here as in Germany.

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Gasoline is 12 cents a gallon in Venezuela. Sure they pump their own oil - and we could be doing a lot more of that too.

Gas prices around the world

 

[wavinwayne]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pablo:
I still cannot figure what Washington state is doing with our tax dollars. The only thing I can find are multimillion dollar studies, to see if they need to do a study.

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Somebody needs to figure out what's going on there.

 

[wavinwayne]

quote:

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Originally posted by keith:

quote:

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Originally posted by kenw:
Remember, except for smallish distribution costs, the price of the "gasoline" is the same here as in Germany.

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Gasoline is 12 cents a gallon in Venezuela. Sure they pump their own oil - and we could be doing a lot more of that too....

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That might upset the mating habits of the Porcupine Caribou. So

shame on your for even thinking it. j/k of course.

 

[kenw]

quote:

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Originally posted by keith:

quote:

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Originally posted by kenw:
Remember, except for smallish distribution costs, the price of the "gasoline" is the same here as in Germany.

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Gasoline is 12 cents a gallon in Venezuela. Sure they pump their own oil - and we could be doing a lot more of that too.

Gas prices around the world

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we are. wells that have been shut down for years are being opened, deepend and upgraded. At $66/bbl, it's justified. At $30/bbl, it isn't.

Deep oil costs more to get. High sulphur oil costs more to refine. Waxy oil costs more to transport and refine. Sure, we've got lots of oil in the USA, but not at $30/bbl. The low hanging fruit is history. Jed Clampitt's backyard oil field is bone dry. At least as deep as his scatter gun can reach!

And our company stock is up 100% in the past 12 months. Beats the snot out of the performance of my old company......

The cost of the more exotic metals we use to make that stuff is WAY up primarily due to the buying sprees of the Chinese combined with the demand from people like us. When we can get it, we not only pay 3x for the material, the machine shops are swamped and most are on overtime, which jacks the labor up.

Want a good job that pays good $$? Be a skilled machine operator. And if you know of a good top quality machine shop with oil field experience that needs work, drop me a line. Seriously.

 

[kenw]

keith, wasn't implying texas, by "we" I was talking about any domestic source; which definitely includes alaska!

 

[mechtech]

We haven't built a refinery since the '70s in our country.
Sooner or later, things can catch up with us.

 

[williar]

Lack of refining capacity, oil monopolies, and supply manipulations are key factors in high oil prices. Oil companies, on the refining and retail end, and oil cartels on the production end, have found they can create an artificial shortage, drive up prices, and get away with it.

 

[satterfi]

quote:

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Originally posted by williar:
Lack of refining capacity, oil monopolies, and supply manipulations are key factors in high oil prices. Oil companies, on the refining and retail end, and oil cartels on the production end, have found they can create an artificial shortage, drive up prices, and get away with it.

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So buy stocks in oil companies and laugh all the way to the bank.

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by keith:
Sure they pump their own oil - and we could be doing a lot more of that too. [/URL]

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Sure we could pump more..but our supplies are very limited. When we put emphasis on drilling vs conservation we are setting ourselves up for the big one. We should be embarking on a WWII effort right now..building Nukes and gearing up to produce 50mpg vehicles, and whatever else makes us use less. But instead we passed an energy bill that was 50% useless pork, 40% production, and 10% conservation. Very sad and very fatal.

I'm 60 years old had a great life and pretty much don't give a rip anymore bc I know the ultimate outcome..but you younger folks are screwed.