Gas prices, here we go again...

[nickel]

Just heard gas prices are highest since Hurricane Katrina, and when oil exports are shut off by Libya they are going to go higher.

I need 4 WD in the winter where I live, and ugh, yes, I don't get the best gas mileage. (about 25 mpg when not in 4 WD)

[renovation]

hell my f-150 2x4 ex cab only gets 14 mpg .
sure glad im able to use my saturn vue for a lot of my jobs my work truck would really kill my bottom line even at $3.50 gallon like is here today.

[cruelpupet]

about 25 mmg when not in 4 WD


25 Millimeters a gallon!?!? Damn! you gonna be broke soon.

[nickel]

25 Millimeters a gallon!?!? Damn! you gonna be broke soon.
:doh:

it would have to be milliliters if we were talking gas though. ;)

[mcs328]

I predict $5/gal. My car gets between 25-32mpg. Summer is just around the corner.

[sofia123]

thet mean will effect to my country.... :P:P:P

[Daedalus]

Probably almost time to upgrade to a nicer gas guzzler :).

I remember the last time gas prices got up near $5/gallon people got stupid and began buying Geo Metros for up to $7k each just because they get like 50mpg or something like that. Congrats on the excellent fuel efficiency. Condolences on the ride.

[renovation]

I'm not looking forward to my gas bill for the possible drive trip coming up in about 1 month .
1500 miles each way at what looks like could be hell on the pocket book. even at 28 mpg or better. plus a nights stay at a hotel then add in road food. discomfort of sitting in a car for 2 days. if i could would fly and be there in 2 hours and rent a car.have really found dollar for dollar spent flying can be cheaper then driving a lot of times on long trips. you spend all that time in a car .then the extra expenses of snack food ,hotel,oil changes (wear on your own car ) body aches and pains. it's cheaper for me when going from detroit to tampa. just to get on a plane and rent a car. 2 1/2 hours on a plane for $100. 22 hours drive time plus 3-4 tanks of 12-14 gallons gas , im older now so a hotel stop for 5-8 hours rest.
then there the bs of driving though /around Alanta.
ya its nice having my own personal car when I arrive in tampa.
but for $200 air fare plus $200 week car rental. i think im at a break even or maybe even ahead.

[Markel]

but for $200 air fare plus $200 week car rental. i think im at a break even or maybe even ahead.
The gas alone for the trip will run about $375. If you can fly for $200, DO IT!

[renovation]

The gas alone for the trip will run about $375. If you can fly for $200, DO IT!
i know -problem is when i drive down im hauling tools and equipment :(
and shipping tools is a nightmare.

[Markel]

i know -problem is when i drive down im hauling tools and equipment :(
and shipping tools is a nightmare.
ay, there's the rub.

[DarkFury]

This is why I ride my motorcycle for most of Late Spring through Early Fall here...

Pretty much the bike gets over 40 MPG... which makes for a cheap commute to work everyday. :D

[Napoleon54]

Libya provides something like 2% of the world's supply and Saudi Arabia has already said they'd increase exports to cover any global shortfall. OMG, EVERYBODY PANIC!!! :ugh:

[nickel]

Libya provides something like 2% of the world's supply and Saudi Arabia has already said they'd increase exports to cover any global shortfall. OMG, EVERYBODY PANIC!!! :ugh:
Well, that's the thing, they do panic whether there is true impact or not. :disa:

[renovation]

big oil companys control the pump price and they import and set prices the station owners have very little imput if any.
don't matter how big or small the station or chain of stations the owner has. also the price is set to match or be a couple of cents. up or down from the other stations in the area. why they have never been charged with price fixing is bull. the goverment sticks there hands into so many companys. but gas companys there scarred of.

[nate el bueno]

I'm not sure who starts this chain reaction, but from my end, I just love seeing gas stations jack up their prices from things like this...BEFORE they are even effected. Anticipation is wonderful.

On the bright side, this might help my get a better price when I sell my gas sipper :)

[gwilks98]

I knew the economy was going to falter when the last gas price hike happened a few years ago. Another spike will cripple us into another 3 year doom-n-gloom.

I heard that Libya produces 2% of the worlds supply. Someone please explain how a 2% hit causes a 25% spike in prices?

[Jeffbx]

Because gas companies raise their prices based on the news, not based on the actual cost of oil. Everyone sees all of the unrest in the Mideast & think, 'Uh-oh, gas prices are going up!'

Then the gas companies get all excited & raise the prices because people expect it & they can get away with it.

[DarkFury]

Yeah... exactly. It's just an excuse for them to raise the prices since they KNOW that we can't go without.

Free market economy at its best... gouging the consumers. And bet that they will be slow to reduce the prices once this "event" is over.

[nate el bueno]

Because gas companies raise their prices based on the news, not based on the actual cost of oil. Everyone sees all of the unrest in the Mideast & think, 'Uh-oh, gas prices are going up!'

Then the gas companies get all excited & raise the prices because people expect it & they can get away with it.

Right, I understand it. Still ticks me off a bit though. Markel and I had this conversation a few days ago, but hey, what can you do?

[Daedalus]

Gasoline is a very price-inelastic commodity with a steep demand curve. Supply shocks--or even the threat of supply shocks--can have exaggerated impacts on prices.

Gas stations over the weekend were a lot busier than usual (consumers react to uncertainty just as businesses do). It makes sense that a spike in demand would cause an immediate increase in prices.

[Jeffbx]

I think it's completely artificial. Demand at the pump has no bearing on the actual price - people aren't going to drive more or less because of world events. Over the long term they may change their driving habits in response to the increase in price, but not vice-versa.
Gas prices change due to a POTENTIAL increase in the cost of oil, which is total BS.

[DarkFury]

I think it's completely artificial. Demand at the pump has no bearing on the actual price - people aren't going to drive more or less because of world events. Over the long term they may change their driving habits in response to the increase in price, but not vice-versa.
Gas prices change due to a POTENTIAL increase in the cost of oil, which is total BS.
And on that note, they never fall as fast as they rose if there were a POTENTIAL decrease in the cost of oil.

[mcs328]

I bet they make another record profit this year again.

[Showtime]

Libya provides something like 2% of the world's supply and Saudi Arabia has already said they'd increase exports to cover any global shortfall. OMG, EVERYBODY PANIC!!! :ugh:

That's the thing... It doesn't matter. Any excuse is good enough to raise gas prices.

One day I will own an electric car. :)

[attgig]

super suckage right now... =(

[renovation]

That's the thing... It doesn't matter. Any excuse is good enough to raise gas prices.

One day I will own an electric car. :)
this summers I'm going to restore a pedal car and screw the gas company's ~ :)
not sure if i can drive it to far. but it will be a fun project anyway! its like 40-50 years young ~
thinking bright yellow or candy apple red.

[cruelpupet]

this summers I'm going to restore a pedal car and screw the gas company's ~ :)
not sure if i can drive it to far. but it will be a fun project anyway! its like 40-50 years young ~
thinking bright yellow or candy apple red.


Im getting a bit more serious about ditching my car in the very near future. I have a few bikes im interested in, but none of them seem to have all the features i want.

[victor221]

This is from Jim Rogers new blog:Oil Outlook: Prices, Saudi Arabia & Reserves
Saudi Arabia has been lying about their reserves for decades. Saudi Arabia the last two times said we are going to increase production and they could not increase production.

They told George Bush they would increase production and they could not.Don`t fall for that.

The reason oil is going up is because the world is running out of known reserves of oil. I don`t know what will happen in the Middle East, if it all blows up tomorrow afternoon, it will go there (all time highs) next week. But if it does not, if things calm down, oil will go back down for a while. But the world is running out of known reserves of oil. these are simple facts.'


He is a smart guy:After attending Yale and Oxford University, Jim Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund, a global-investment partnership. During the next 10 years, the portfolio gained 4200%, while the S&P 500 rose less than 50%. Rogers then decided to retire – at age 37.

[Jeffbx]

Nah, I don't buy that. Oil prices are high because speculators are allowed to run the price up evertime there's a news story about any of the OPECs.


As the crisis in Libya continues to shake world oil markets, a rising chorus of voices in Washington is calling for President Obama to release millions barrels of oil from our 727 million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), The New York Times reports. With gasoline prices up 33 cents a gallon in the last month, that's a tempting idea. The government tapped into the SPR after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and during 1991's Persian Gulf War. In both cases, the moves took pressure off oil prices.

But is the current situation such an emergency? No way. After all, as I wrote last month on DailyFinance, Libya represents a mere 0.5% of U.S. oil imports, and Saudi Arabia is increasing its production to make up the difference. There has been no sudden increase in demand for oil, nor has there been a truly significant drop in supply. In fact, refineries -- which convert crude oil into gasoline and other chemicals -- are operating at a relatively low 88.4% of capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Institute.

So why are oil prices going up so much? Speculators.

See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/efjPlW

[cruelpupet]

Nah, I don't buy that. Oil prices are high because speculators are allowed to run the price up evertime there's a news story about any of the OPECs.


Oil/gas prices are high because we are running out of accessable oil, which is a nice way of saying we hit peak output/peak oil. So we have a set/shrinking supply and a growing demand (china/india, etc) This is why speculators speculate, and prices bounce on small changes


Exxon publicly states (which generally means its really worse) that they are only replacing every 100 barrels with 95 that they find.
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704409004576146362117313094.html

Wikileaks revealed that oilrich countries are overestimating their reserves "senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom's crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%."
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/08/saudi-oil-reserves-overstated-wikileaks

The german govt has study the issue, and the study was leaked Link: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,715138,00.html

[Napoleon54]

Nah, I don't buy that. Oil prices are high because speculators are allowed to run the price up evertime there's a news story about any of the OPECs.

:stupid:
This 33 cent jump in gas prices in the past few weeks is 100% speculation. Longterm trends associated with peak oil are a different topic. Peak oil means prices are going to steadily increase over the next couple decades as supplies run out.

These recent spikes are short term speculation based on news from Libya. It's a knee-jerk reaction to general news of instability in the Middle East. It has no relationship to the actual supply of oil. Speculators are making a vague gut-feeling guess on the probability that these events could be related to some sort of supply change in the future. Essentially: what are the odds of political dissent spilling over from Libya to a country where it will actually have some kind of impact on supply? Speculators are... speculating... on what oil supply/ prices might do in the future based on these short-term events.

Assume for a minute that you could empirically estimate the probability of future events. Even if there's a 90% chance that current events in Libya do not predict any change in price/ supply in the next few months, there's still a 10% chance that it could, and that's an opportunity for speculators to play the odds. If that 10% chance were to come true the speculator could make money by betting on it now.

The act of betting on an increase in the future is itself causing an increase. Investors get nervous and start to buy in order to hedge their bets, even though nothing has actually happened yet.

[Showtime]

Speculators, running out, war, instability, demand up (it will be up forever), some governments policies, a butterfly flaps it's wings... Any excuse and it goes up. Hmm doesn't seem to come down as quickly for some reason.

Just remember, it's finite and it will run out one day.