Premium gas

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Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: Rhymingmechanic
I thought of this thread at the Shell station last night. Regular: 1.91, Midgrade: 2.35, Premium: 2.65.

Back at the turn of the century, a Shell station near me sold premium for the price of regular one day a week. That seemed like a real bargain. Premium at the time was about 1.79.

That was in Elkins, Arkansas. If you didn't speed and made sure all your lights worked, you could get out of town with a tank of premium and no attention from the local law.

Shell is a little different, they went with a new additive which increases their price even more. They're also top tier.

Most Shell stations in So Cal have 20 cents different between regular and premium, actually most stations in So Cal have only 20 cents different.
 
18 cent difference at the local warehouse clubs. $2.13 vs $2.31. Not complaining since the tuned turbo Cruze sips on premium.
 
You see the cheaper regular price on the sign, and don't notice the premium price till you get to the pump. It' s advertising.
 
Another thing to keep in mind, is that market price on gas is done on the commodity exchange. Nothing to do with refiners, distributors, or retailers. A spike in fuel price "before" a hurricane hits is just the market players bidding up pricing to gain market share. And a basic economics maxim, where the money is determines where goods go. On one level, so-called "gouging" is good. Take for instance, portable generators during these hard time events. If I have a supply of generators in, say, Nebraska, and I would not get a better price for them in Mississippi after a Hurricane, I won't bother moving them to where people need them. If, on the other hand, I can expect to make a good profit by doing so, I will move them overnight to get them there. Sure, the folks who need them will be paying a premium, but they will have them as opposed to wishing they had them and the generators are still sitting in boxes in Nebraska.

Fuel is done the same way. Market bidders will want to ensure that fuel is readily available in an area that is going to need it, so they bid higher to get the fuel diverted from lessor need areas. Unfortunately in doing so, it jacks up the price for the fuel in that area. But as opposed to not having enough fuel at the normal price, there is ample fuel at an inflated price. I'll take the latter. Just like I would take a higher than normal price generator over not having one at all.
 
They charge what the market will bear. It is the more expensive cars that require premium. If you can afford the car, you can afford the gas. And there are those that insist on using premium on a car that only requires regular 87 fuel. These people will pay whatever it takes to get that premium.

The vast majority of vehicles on the road do not require premium, and will run just fine on E10 87 octane.
 
Somewhere around two-ish years ago, the base stock for our gasoline here in the mid-west (maybe farther?) changed from 87 to 84/5 octane. Many stations where you could previously get non-ethanol 87 are now E10 to raise the octane from 84 to 87. I read at the time, that they dropped the base octane to keep prices down. Now any 87 or 91 without ethanol comes at a premium (har).
 
The change to 84 octane base occurred when the ethanol subsidy disappeared.

At least it did here.
 
Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
Another thing to keep in mind, is that market price on gas is done on the commodity exchange. Nothing to do with refiners, distributors, or retailers. A spike in fuel price "before" a hurricane hits is just the market players bidding up pricing to gain market share. And a basic economics maxim, where the money is determines where goods go. On one level, so-called "gouging" is good. Take for instance, portable generators during these hard time events. If I have a supply of generators in, say, Nebraska, and I would not get a better price for them in Mississippi after a Hurricane, I won't bother moving them to where people need them. If, on the other hand, I can expect to make a good profit by doing so, I will move them overnight to get them there. Sure, the folks who need them will be paying a premium, but they will have them as opposed to wishing they had them and the generators are still sitting in boxes in Nebraska.

Fuel is done the same way. Market bidders will want to ensure that fuel is readily available in an area that is going to need it, so they bid higher to get the fuel diverted from lessor need areas. Unfortunately in doing so, it jacks up the price for the fuel in that area. But as opposed to not having enough fuel at the normal price, there is ample fuel at an inflated price. I'll take the latter. Just like I would take a higher than normal price generator over not having one at all.


I need to clarify something. Those photos were taken in 2007. Hurricane Katrina and Rita happened in 2006.

I'm trying to remember what Hurricane happened in late summer/early fall of 2007 that drove prices up that high.

This is always why I started to "stock up" when they say a hurricane is coming.I have multiple 5 gallon fuel cans I keep full for my lawnmowers. I drive over to Virginia and by non-10 because it's cheaper. That's why I buy 30 gallons at a time. I also keep about 15 gallons of 2 stroke gas on hand for my Trabant 601 which get's good gas mileage. Then top my Subaru's tank off.

That way when prices do spike, I can drive around on gas I purchased before the gouging begins!

I learned my lesson ten years ago!
 
You are correct! The older I get, the more time get's away from me...

My wife and I were dating in 2007 and I remember taking those photos because she lived not far from those gas stations. So something must have happened in late summer/early fall to artificially inflate those prices.
 
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