Gas Prices in Your area, Let's hear about it.

[+ Charlie]

When I lived in PA, I bought gas regularly in NJ, because it was cheaper in Jersey even though I had to pump my own in PA. Now I am pumping my own again in CA, and paying almost twice what I was paying in PA when this thread started.

[Guest BIRROTCH]

Two places--Where I live-- Nashville, TN: anywhere from $1.68 to $1.80 for regular unleaded. Since, I have a Sams Club card, I get it for less. In fact, I just paid the highest I have ever paid here: $1.609. Now, California?? the LA area is between 2.19 in the east desert (near Joahua Tree NP) and in the metro LA area, it's going for $2.39 +, depending on where you go. It's s'posed to go up another .05 to .10 in the next few weeks. Isn't that nice??

I'm oiling up my bicycle.

 

 

 

>Orlando area avg. / reg unleaded running around $1.75...add

>$.15-20 when you get near Disney.

>Been going up a penny or two every 5-7 days it seems for last

>month or so.

>

>x(

>

>Rick

[+ glutes]

It powers the world's economies ... but unrest in Saudi is fuelling fears it could also destroy them

By James Cusick

 

 

 

FOR the second time inside a month, armed Islamic militants have attacked oil workers inside Saudi Arabia. The attack yesterday in the eastern oil city of Khobar, which struck three housing compounds and the offices of oil companies, left at least 16 dead and the militants holding up to 50 hostages.

The deaths add to those killed at the Saudi port city of Yanbu on May 2, when four oil engineers and one contractor, all from West ern countries, were killed in a gun attack.

 

At Yanbu, a body was dragged through the streets before Saudi security forces killed three of the gunmen. A McDonald’s restaurant was fired upon, a pipe bomb thrown at one of the city’s international schools, and gunfire exchanges took place outside a Holiday Inn. The media reports that followed said the deaths of the men– two from Britain, two from the US and one Australian – had been carried out by a group in Saudi linked to al-Qaeda. Yesterday an Islamic website carried a statement said to be from al-Qaeda, which claimed it had carried out the latest attack.

 

For one oil analyst at Seymour Pierce in London, the Saudi attack in Yanbu and the fact that Saudi nationals were involved “triggered’’ the rise in oil prices that is threatening a return to the oil crisis of the 1970s, global economic chaos and George W Bush’s chances of entering the White House for a second term. The latest attack in Khobar will hardly help.

 

The hike in the price of the world’s oil took it close to a 21-year high. Only last Thursday did the price of oil in New York drop back to just under $40 a barrel – the first time it had been under that level for more than a fortnight. In the US the impact of the rise took petrol prices well beyond $2 a gallon, a psychological barrier that no president seeking re- election wants to have linger for too long.

 

In the volatile oil market, security in the Middle East – with the Gulf states producing 70% of the world’s oil – is a crucial factor to price stability.

 

Opec, the 11-nation cartel of oil exporting states, meets in Beirut this week and is expected to agree to boost production levels by enough to make a “psychological impact” in an attempt to bring prices down. Chancellor Gordon Brown speaking for the G7 nations in New York last week effectively begged for just such action.

 

The European Union’s energy commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, wanted at least the appearance of normality when she said last week there was ‘‘no deep-seated problem with the world oil market”. But Brown made it crystal clear that the G7 expects Opec’s help. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, has already agreed to a unilateral hike in its production level by 10%. For Brown, the Saudi gesture was “important”. He believes when Opec gathers in Beirut there will be “added pressure on other Opec countries to do the right thing”.

 

However, even if Opec does agree, many analysts believe the current supply shortfalls are not the sole cause of the recent price increase. Opec is already operating beyond its own self-imposed quota levels, with some countries already near to producing the limit of their capabilities. And as the price is at a 21-year high, what else would they be doing?

 

Although the G7 has chosen to focus on supply, global demand is at least as big a problem. The overall world economy is strong, growth is positive, especially in the US, where a big “summer recovery” season can be equated with a “driving season”. In China, every season now is a season of economic growth – a rampant 20% last year.

 

Opec members supply about a third of the world’s oil and some believe the cartel is being blamed unjustifiably for a price level that it may be able to influence but not sustain, simply because it has a limited ability to respond to surging demand and political instability in the Middle East. Nigeria, an Opec state, has already said it can’t do more and is producing flat out.

 

Although the US is pressuring Opec for increased supply, the US energy secretary Spencer Abraham suggested the problem may lie elsewhere when he said: “We’re producing a substantial amount, more oil than we did a year ago. And inventories are substantially higher than they were a year ago.”

 

So while the G7 begs, the Saudis promise and others in Opec complain about the pressure, the ability to deliver more oil this summer is receding. Marshall Stevens, an analyst at Refco, doubts the Saudis can deliver. “[Their measures] won’t take effect till July, and any new oil won’t hit the US till August. And that wouldn’t do much to allay gasoline concerns.”

 

 

 

A “psychological gesture” by Opec this week, perhaps a temporary hike in supply, won’t be enough. Some analysts think that any small hike will be swallowed up by rising global demand, with some growing Asian nations desperate to do what the US has been doing for generations – stockpile reserves and somehow insulate themselves from future price shocks.

 

After the September 11 attacks President Bush ordered the US’s strategic reserves to be built up. The US reserve is 660 million barrels, but Bush has ordered it to be raised to 700m. However big this reserve is though, Bush knows it isn’t big enough to have a sustained effect on world prices. His plans to boost US production look unlikely to succeed. US environmentalists successfully lobbied Congress and blocked the opening of new oil facilities that would have meant drilling inside US nature reserves.

 

Most analysts agree that a crucial price determinant is now the current high risk of interruptions to supply. If post-war Iraq had seen oil production boosted and political stability installed, the concerns over Saudi would have been far less. But Iraq is not a picture of stability. The knock-on effect? Even the smallest jitters over Saudi – which controls 30% of the world’s proven reserves – are enough to justify what analysts are still reluctant to call a “security premium”. Of the current level of $40 a barrel, as much as $8 can be put down to this premium. Given the US government’s fears that al-Qaeda is planning another major attack on US soil this summer, that premium could soar to more than $15, cancelling out any potential success that comes out of Beirut this week.

 

For the US car industry, which has produced a fleet of 4.2 million unsold gas-guzzling 4x4s worth $100 billion (if they were parked nose-to-tail they would stretch half-way round the world ) that kind of price prognosis is bad news. Unless sales improve, the industry will respond with lower production levels, and jobs, worldwide, will go.

 

The Saudis recognise they may now be in phase one of an economic balancing act: they must ensure prices are not driven so high that it creates an uncheckable momentum to find and implement new energy technologies, and thus economically weaken the Saudi kingdom.

 

But there are more pressing problems for the global economy. If al-Qaeda continues to attack the international oil community in Saudi, or go further and carry out a major strike at the heart of the Saudi oil industry itself and succeed in disrupting supply for even a brief period, a revisitation of the 1970s oil crisis and the worldwide slump that followed could be one outcome. Opec’s meeting in Beirut will address only one short-term solution, because at the moment there is no long-term solution.

 

30 May 2004

[+ glutes]

Self-service unleaded has reached a record $2.48/gallon here in Nothern Cal, any predictions when it will reach $3.00/gallon??

[+ Charlie]

I paid $2.54 for regular last night in Palm Springs. I have 2 cars, but I am only driving the one that uses regular, because the other uses premium, which is now $2.74 here.

[paulsf]

A couple of stations topped $2.90 this morning in San Francisco and they were predicting on the news this morning, that they will top $3.00 in the next couple of days.

[RM]

Last time I bought gas here in California it was $2.27 for regular. Across the street it was $2.49. What a bargain!

[Guest showme43]

>Self-service unleaded has reached a record $2.48/gallon here

>in Nothern Cal, any predictions when it will reach

>$3.00/gallon??

 

Probably not to long from now if Bush gets re-elected and he lets his texas oil cronies and the saudis do as they damn well please x(

[Guest CollegeToronto]

Gas has been around 83 cents (Canadian $) a litre here in Toronto, though I hear in some places in Canada it has been over $1 a litre. Anyways I dunno the conversion into gallons but I'm sure it's much more expensive here.

[noviceny]

Just filled up my car in Yonkers (a city right outside of the Bronx, that falls in the county of Westchester) and for regular gas I paid $2.33 a gallon.

 

Thank God I drive a Honda and can fill up for about $22

[ItalMix]

I'm reading some of the responses from around the country and amazed. Someone was saying that in urban areas the price is higher because of overhead.. well guys I live on Long Island, NY..about 50 miles out of NYC and this past Sunday I paid $2.43 for Hi-test !! I believe regular was $2.03.

 

I know people who are driving this huge SUV's and leave them parked in the driveway because they can't afford to buy gas..

 

I'd love to know what the deal is, especially since it is obvious that pricing is not based on anything but greed !

 

x(

[Samai139]

I live near Rochester, New York---for those of you unfamiliar with the geography of New York State--that's about 100 miles from Buffalo and Niagara Falls to the west, and about 100 miles from Syracuse--the home of the OrangeMen, to the east. Gasoline prices here hover around the $2.15 mark this week. If I travel on the New York State Thruway---I can pay from $2.05(near Albany) to $2.18, near Buffalo. Like a previous poster, thank god for my Honda Accord---it allows me to still do some driving without going broke.

[Guest rohale]

I think the way gas prices are nowadays, it's plain ridiculous what drivers have to pay at the pump. Right now the gas station which I go to, super unleaded is about $2:59. Unfortunately there a lot of people whose financial pockets are hurting because of the high prices at the pump. It really is a shame. I read in the paper today that gas prices are supposed to be climbing down sometime in January 2005. Between now and next year, there seems to be no relief in sight.

 

I was in the England last week, I was driving with a friend of mine. We were passing through West Molsey and we stopped at a petrol station. I noticed that the price was 3 pounds 44 pence in sterling money. When converted into dollars that comes out to $5:44. I was a bit caught of guard. I told my friend how much the price for gas is in Southern California. He said that we shouldn't be complaining about gas prices in the United States because in Europe petrol is expensive. Especially in Britain with the BUT tax taken into account.

 

In the bigger picture we should feel a bit luckier compared to what drivers have to pay in Europe and probably the rest of the world.

 

Rohale

[jaden]

WHAT!?!?!? NO WAY!!!

 

 

*TAMPA HERE* =o)

Holy shit, and to think I it is anywhere from 1.95-2.20 for regular in Florida.

 

LOL! that's more than double!

 

 

That's nearly state-wide too... Maybe more expensive in Miami.

[SAdler]

I think across the street was $2.50 last I checked. God bless my Vespa (60 miles/gallon)

[Guest ReturnOfS]

>This can be quite interesting...

>

>I have brought up this topic before. And I find it quite

>amazing how gas prices can vary from just a few miles. I live

>in Alexandria, VA where the gas prices for Regular is 1.28 a

>gallon. But where my Dad lives just 12 miles South of me it

>is $.89 cents a gallon for Reg unleaded. Now in Washington DC

>just 3 miles North of me it is still $1.43 a gallon. And I

>know the poor people in San Francisco are still paying close

>to the 2 dollar mark for gas. That is totaly insane.

>

>What in the hell are the Gas companies doing? x( What are you

>paying in your area.

>

>I am just curious.

>

>Talvin

>http://www.talvindemachio.com

>

 

Its amazing that this post is three years old, and we were still complaining about gas prices back then. I would kill for those prices. This past weekend I was driving in Washington, DC and I saw one place selling regular for $2.17!!!

[BigK]

$till $1.93 for super unleaded at Costco in Houston, Texas. And that is a good :-( price.

[yellowpuppystud]

US is consuming about 20 million barrel a day, thats 7.3 billion a year. If we do not reduce our consumption, prices will eventually hit 250 dollar a barrel. We are the the brink of a phenomenon known as "Peak Oil"

 

Check this out if you are concern for human future

 

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

[+ Charlie]

Just curious: is this the longest running ongoing thread in the history of the MB?

[+ Lucky]

It hasn't run out of gas yet!

[Retired Fly Boy]

The gas stations will charge what the traffic will allow. In Central Florida, stations near the theme parks charge more in tourist areas.Around Sea World and Disney World, regular is $1.87 to $1.99 per gallon. You get into the burbs and off the beaten tourist tracks it drops to $1.75. Mobil, Chevron and Hess all price the same way. Same for Coke in the machine. Near the parks a bottle of Coke is $2.00 nine miles away it is $1.00. The closer a gas station is to the theme parks, the more rent they pay and pass on the price to the customer. The law of supply and demand. Tourists will pull into the first filling station they see, no matter the price.

[+ glutes]

|| BUMP ||

 

$2.59/gallon here in SF, and still climbing!

Thank you Harken Oil...

[flguy]

$2.04 per gallon for regular unleaded yesterday, but price has been changing daily. Can anybody say $3.00 per gallon???

[JT Brooklyn]

I am sure IF it hits $3.00 it will be at any Gas Station near a Bridge or Tunnel in NYC..We NY'ers LUV to overpay for "EVERYTHING" LOL :+ :+ :+

[+ Charlie]

Over the last week it has been going up three or four cents a day here in the desert. Right now regular is about $2.42 at my local Chevron.