Gas Prices

$3.239/gallon is a bargain. Here in Detroit, we're still paying at least fifty cents per gallon more than that ...

... and I fully expect it to be around $4 by next weekend ...

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it's the dog's fault

The real problem is that us sheep are willing to accept being raped by the oil companies. Have you ever seen the movie 'gashole'? The chief executives of the oil companies explained it this way:

"We have willing sellers and we have willing buyers"

I believe that the second 'willing' should actually have been 'hostage' or 'captive'.

I am in Iowa where if you want to live and breath decently you move into a city for the country life is filled with hog life smell which gags you. Hog farm stench is to Iowa economy as the oil refinery stench is to Oklahoma but worse. Things might change next year for our brain dead governor wants to increase the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon to help with the economy which failed to pass with the Republicans and Democrats in the last legislature.

I wonder why Davenport IA is usually only 10-14 cents cheaper than Moline IL.

There may be local taxes on gas beyond the federal & state.

Noone is forcing us to pay the high prices, we choose to do so by our willingness to want the SUV's and other large vehicles; Now I am not exempt from this equation, because I drive a custom full size van, but I choose not to fuss about the prices, I just look for the cheapest at the time, excluding some stations which carry the off brands.

Please wait. Your 'dream' will be fulfilled shortly, if the powers-that-be (big oil) have their way.

In ontario we pay on average about $1.20/G more than in most US prices

Here in the Philly, PA area we hit over $4.00 a gallon, it's dropped to around $3.65 now. Across the river in New Jersey it's $3.51.

Sorry, but the high prices we pay for gas have nothing whatsoever to do with what we drive and everything to do with pure profit, plain and simple.

It doesn't matter whether you drive a 'smart car' or a Hummer. You are getting ripped off on the price of each and every gallon of gasoline, pure and simple. There are no shortages anywhere in the supply chain, in fact if you pay attention, every excuse has been given for increases, ranging from 'tight supply' (reserves are their highest in almost 30 years), too much demand; too LITTLE demand and so much more.

Perhaps you've also noticed that they keep shutting down refineries. Do you know why? To create ARTIFICIAL shortages and max out their revenue flow. And governments are willing participants to the conspiracy, since much of their take is based on a percentage of the sales in dollars.

The real stupidity is that as the prices rise and the public cuts back on their consumption the states, who also derive a bunch of their revenue based on volume, start to lose the ability to raise money for things like road repairs and public transit - so they start to look elsewhere.

Watch for new taxes on commodities like electricity and for mileage-based taxes, with their consequential impact on personal privacy, because the tax revenue shortfall that was created by speculators and oil companies though high prices needs to be compensated for.

In the last 40 days (4/9-5/20) gas prices here have dropped exactly $0.50 cents/gal.

My calculated cost of gas for our upcoming trip in June has dropped by almost $100.00 in the past 3 weeks!

Gas prices in Atlanta are running $3.49 per gal for regular. Was in Florida for a business trip and found the same price. Oh well,it is an election year and we all know it will be a topic.

Here in Central Calif the price is 4.29 and up

thanks

Here is the dilemma POTUS has, he wants to get most of us into a Hybrid or Electric vehicle to help his constituency in Detroit however a large number of us are reluctant to shell out the money they want for one, in order for a hybrid to make financial sense to the average consumer the price of gas has to be around $8 so it can pay itself back as quick as regular gasoline vehicle.

But he knows that at around $8 he is toast for a second term and will have to go back living in Hawaii or Kenya whichever he chooses.

Good article to read.

http://useconomy.about.com/od/commoditiesmarketfaq/p/high_ga...

Quote:

Oil prices are set by commodities traders who buy and sell futures contracts on the commodities exchanges.These are agreements to buy or sell oil at a specific date in the future at a specific price. Commodities traders can create a self-fulfilling prophecy by bidding up oil futures prices. Once this starts, it can create an asset bubble. Unfortunately, the one who pays for this bubble is you!

It ain't much bettter. For regular $4.10 to $4.30.
The problem is the system is rigged from the outset. The oil companies control supply and the government is a willing participant in the rigged game. Slowly raise prices and people will become accustomed to it. It is always something causing prices to go up.
$5 per gallon will happen to soon and my guess is a target date has aleady been set by big oil for it to happen.

Too bad the link you provided is to an article that clearly is espousing the perception that big business desires you to believe.

Unfortunately, the retail price of gasoline is only partially impacted by the price of crude oil.

Did you know, for example that for the past few months the crude that the US buys from Canada costs all of $35 a barrel (50% discount from the rack rate)? West Texas Crude is likewise being deeply discounted, because of slack demand - yet that discount is not reflected in the prices at the pumps where gasoline is selling at almost record high prices which were last seen when refiners were paying as much as $135 and more per barrel.

You can't believe everything you read on Internet web sites.

I agree....

And California comes in 2nd. Always knew NY pays the highest taxes.

I am trying to make sense of the above quote. I would like to know what constitutes high priced car.
Using my Sunday Morning newspaper here are some numbers:
Mitsubishi i electric & gas $21,625 + taxes 112 MPG
Dodge Chrysler 200 $19488 +taxes 31mpg
Cheverolet Cruze $17745+taxes 42mpg
Cheverolet Malibu $19463+taxes 33mpg
Toyota Camrey $21899+ taxes 35mpg
Toyota Prius $24225 +taxes 51mpg
Ford Focus $14795+taxes 40mpg
These are 2012 models and figures from the companies.
The numbers above tell me that there is no great price difference between them but which one you buy will determine how much money you will spend on gas between car payments. A few months ago it was told on the news that the average driver spent $4300+ on gas last year so I took my mileage and figured that I spent about half of that so buying a Focus, Prius, or Cruze would be cheaper than buying a "regular gasoline vehicle" in the long run.

Why does the Mitsubishi have an MPG rating in your list? The thing is all-electric.

According to Mitsubishi the i starts at $29,975), gets a range of 100 miles (presumably with a single 50 pound passenger on board, the wind behind it's back and rolling downhill) and has the cargo capacity of a roller skate (The Prius starts at $32K according to Toyota - http://www.toyota.com/prius-plug-in/.

The average driver these days does less than 18,000 miles. Assuming he gets 25 mpg that means 720 gallons of fuel - at the rip-off price of $4/gallon that means $2880. Using your mileage numbers it would be roughly 25% less.

if the battery in the Mitsubishi lasted adequately (as in able to do 100 miles in the wintertime (with the heater on or with the air conditioning cranked) and carrying passengers) without needing a recharge for 5 years in temperate climates I'd be amazed, but Mitsubishi has yet to disclose the cost of the battery as far as I can tell - lots of avoiding the question stuff out there - so you can guess that it will cost about $10,000.

So beyond your cost of electricity, this vehicle is about $2500 a year to operate - and if you have a family, the need to go more than 50 miles from home or need to carry any 'cargo', you'll need another vehicle available to you.

The reviews say the Nissan is much better, but that's even more expensive.

BTW, to encourage sales of these things governments are waiving road use taxes - so if everyone bought one the roads would go to ratsh*t because without gas and road taxes there'd be no money for these facilities.

Of note is that the figures to date indicate that about 65% of hybrid buyers do not buy them again, claiming lack of performance, operating costs and lack of space in them.

Besides, we have lots of oil left and lots of room to improve the efficiency of internal combustion engines. We just need to get the oil companies, bankers and politicians to get their heads out of their a**es.

We also need to get the corn alcohol out of our gas tanks since they reduce mileage by a greater percentage than the volume of pure gasoline they displace.

Unless you need a purpose-specific vehicle, we do not need 300+ HP gasoline engines. Give me an engine tuned for torque, not horsepower as it has more usable power for everyday driving.

The heyday of muscle cars are past, but the horsepower ante keeps getting upped. Why?

I'd love to see some small diesel engines in cars like Europe has. Great economy, and useful power. But, they don't stroke the North American ego, it seems. Or, salve a middle-age crisis...

Now I know another reason to move OUT of Illinois.
Thank you for this info.

Our gas is heading down practically daily in Maryland near Washington DC. $3.64 for Regular

Good question

In Westminster Maryland prices have declined to $3.499. I don’t expect prices to say down for long.

I like good discussions.
Today the price in Altoona Iowa dropped another penny to $3.229.
The Mitsubishi has mpg listed because it has an energy efficiency equivalent rating (MPGe) of 126 mpg city/99 mpg highway and 112 mpg combined according to the EPA. This number was used to give comparisons between vehicles or "bean counters at work"
I can't say much about $4 gas for the only place I saw that the last 2 years was in Los Angeles but prudent people fill up their gas tanks at the border before entering California and only have enough gas to leave California and then fill up at the border.
I am not one of those people who drive a measly 18,000 miles a year but using your figures my Prius would use $666.00 (the devil is in my soul) less or the equivalent of several car payments if I did drive that little.
I would not be worried about the battery for with the Prius my sisters 2006 one still is going strong and if one really looks they only cost around $3000 and not $10,000. It is called smart shopping.
I guess I have not yet met any Prius owner who will not buy another so I can't comment about why but if I was to traverse the US coast to coast, I would arrive at the same time as any other car if certain speed limits were imposed such as no driving faster than 100mph.
I use ethanol and it makes no difference in mileage between regular so that theory is mute. The only difference in mileage is if I turn up the air conditioning and it drops from 44 to 41 mpg.
I can talk easily about the Prius but am watching what the competition is doing just in case I might need a new car.
My criteria is that it must hold 4 suite cases or 10 2x 4x8 boards inside or be as efficient as possible.
I assume
most people by cars for their daily use and not as penis extenders and those who buy just to impress do not matter to me.

The prices I listed are after you claim the US government Energy Tax Credit on your income taxes.
I know one can get more for many states have their own energy tax credits.

But you pay sales taxes on the full price, so those numbers are already misleading.

Tax credits are neither universal, nor applicable to all - not all jurisdictions offer credits and some of us have already reduced our tax payable to the point where additional credits can't be (fully or at least partially) used.

Then again, it is way too bad that the cost of these vehicles needs to be offset by the taxes that the rest of us pay, when the vehicles in question actually have a much greater 'dust to dust' environmental footprint than traditional technology.

You won't get a tax credit to help when the time comes to buy that replacement battery - and disposal of that old battery is a serious environmental issue. In fact, the entire vehicle is likely to get scrapped, since the owner will need to invest almost half of the net dollars he will have paid for the vehicle when it was new - not particularly cost effective, since you would need to renew the investment in a 4 or 5 or 6 year old vehicle whose value is less than the cost of the replacement bits. Very environmentally unfriendly in either case.

Besides, no different than my comment about road use and gas taxes, if everyone went out and bought into this technology, then the tax credits you mention would necessarily have to be offset by a corresponding increase in the taxes you pay to government in order to fund those credits, so . . . . no real savings there. For the moment it works because so very few people buy these toys that 'we' don't notice their cost on our tax bills.

I look at these credits essentially as subsidies to the car companies, though indirectly, and round-about, flowing from the government through a reduction in your taxes, to the car manufacturer.

Would you buy one of these things if you had to pay full price for it? YOU might, but many who are considering them would balk. Besides, it is a very inefficient means of redistributing income.

If you must do this type of smoke and mirrors accounting, perhaps the credits should be limited to qualified product from companies with their corporate headquarters, R&D, component sourcing AND their manufacturing of the qualified vehicles in the US (the 'big 3')? At least that way it would keep the money, development and jobs at home.

If your lengthy statement was correct the line at the dealership would be around the block for people clamoring to buy Hybrid or Electric vehicle, also almost every car on the road would be Hybrid or Electric when in reality on the roads in my area those are few and far between.

The demand is not there from the general public, mainly government agencies are buying (with our money) and who do you think the tax credit comes from, whose money is it that the government is throwing around?

I think that "long run" will be longer than you were led to believe.

Check out this recent article from the NY Times http://nyti.ms/HNMLsm

God Bless ya man! In the past week our prices in Portland Or have gone from avg of 3.90 to 4.23. I am believing in the 5.00 by memorial day theory. What a bunch of crooks.

Gas average is around $4 here. It had been around $4.50 but has eased a bit. It can jump more than 30 cents a gallon overnight so seeing $5 average here by the end of summer wouldn't terribly surprise me. The talk earlier in the year was that oil companies would do all they could to avoid/delay $5 gallon average fearing a shift in the mind of consumers.

I read the article and did notice that it said
"The Prius and Lincoln MKZ are likely to produce overall savings within two years versus similar-size gas-powered cars from the same brand, but other hybrids, despite ratings 8 to 12 miles per gallon better than conventional models, will cost more to buy and drive for at least five years.
The data assumes an average of 15,000 miles driven a year and a gas price of just under $4 a gallon. "
This discussion is "Doom & Gloom" vs. "Cherio"
My sister's Prius is 2006 and mine is 2007 and neither have had a battery problem yet but I can get a new one from Toyauto for around $3200 depending on the dealer or if I have the time can rebuild one for around $500 (it is on the web).
The battery is under warranty for 8 years (10 in CA) or 100,000 miles (150,000 in CA) so either way we have cars that are not under warranty and still running.
For one to say the car should be scrapped when the battery dies is saying that one throws the flashlight away when the battery dies.
If one hasn't seen the increase in hybrid cars on the road then someone is driving with their eyes closed.
Everyone pays taxes one way or another so if the gas tax decreases then the revenue to fix roads comes in a different tax. The little old lady who has no car pays gas taxes because it is hidden in the cost of merchandise/food she buys which is delivered to the store by vehicles which buy gas. Delivery is not free.

Philly and NJ area prices have dropped about 15 cents in the past week or so.

Does be sad they will be going up before we know it!!!!

(1) boycott petroleum
(2) make your own
(3) buy it from someone else.

If anyone has another basic choice, please post. "cracking down on the profiteers" is not a basic choice. Neither is buying an electric car, unless such has been mined, manufactured, delivered to you, powered and maintained by non-petro utilzing procedures.

Here they are arranged from highest to lowest.

New York 69.6
California 69
Hawaii 68
Connecticut 64.4
Illinois 62.8
Indiana 61.4
Michigan 61.3
Washington 61.3
North Carolina 57.6
Florida 53.4
West Virginia 51.8
Nevada 51.5
Rhode Island 51.4
Wisconsin 51.3
Pennsylvania 50.7
Maine 49.9
Oregon 49.4
Georgia 47.8
Minnesota 46.5
Ohio 46.4
Kentucky 46.2
Montana 46.2
Nebraska 46
Vermont 43.9
Idaho 43.4
Kansas 43.4
Utah 42.9
South Dakota 42.4
Maryland 41.9
Massachusetts 41.9
Delaware 41.4
North Dakota 41.4
Colorado 40.4
Iowa 40.4
Arkansas 40.2
Tennessee 39.8
Alabama 39.3
Virginia 38.6
Louisiana 38.4
Texas 38.4
New Hampshire 38
Arizona 37.4
New Mexico 37.3
Mississippi 37.2
Missouri 35.7
Oklahoma 35.4
South Carolina 35.2
New Jersey 32.9
Wyoming 32.4
Alaska 26.4

Gov Terry E. Branstad wants to crack the top ten within two years.

Alaska with the lowest tax has one of the highest prices per gallon.

I've gone with option #2 personally. Can be done if you have a diesel engine.

According to Yahoo! prices are going down everywhere except on the West coast. Good news at last!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2012-0...

$3.459 at Sam's in Austin, TX today

$3.16 in Florence S.C. this morning.

Prices have eased a little bit here starting before Memorial Day.

Gas prices were down to $3.319 in Dallas Fort Worth this Memorial Day weekend. A bit of relief from nearly $4 a few weeks ago.

Don't want to jinx it

Prices on Memorial Day afternoon were heading down....$3.41 cash (add 8 cents for credit card).
The day before the Prez took office, it was $1.89 and the country was certain GWBush had jacked up the price to help out his oil buddies.

Now we are used to almost $4.00 gas, it will head down slowly until October. If he's re-elected, up goes the price in order to justify higher-cost alternative power and vehicles.

I call BS... Major BS. There are a few more circumstances involved since the current President took office. Speculators are merely one of them.

As I remember, 2008 had the highest gas prices in history. Who was in office then?