Has anyone else noticed ?

[CoffeeGuy]

On the way in from work today, I noticed at every gas station, crazy long lines of cars waiting to fill up. It kinda puts me in mind of Y2K. I heard a rumor that truckers who transport auto fuel was going to strike tonight at midnight. But I've neither read or seen anything on the news that would back this up. Currious if anyone has heard the same rumor as me.

[shelbyGT]

Why would they care? I'm sure most of the truckers who haul that stuff are fleet drivers, not owner/operators. Fleet don't worry about gas (if I remember correctly), as the company they drive for pays it.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

if they strike, it would have nothing to do with the prices of gas, only with working conditions

but yes, I too have noticed extremely long lines at gas stations lately
paying $2.40 a gallon for the "cheap" stuff isn't exactly fun either....

[shelbyGT]

you only pay $2.40? Here in KC the cheap stuff is $2.60. I have friends and family in NY, Chicago and Cali.... god, this is ridiculous!

[BJ_M]

we pay about $3.20 - $3.40 USD/GAL in canada

but as of march 2005

[BJ_M]

Gas prices are on the rise, but it may surprise you to learn that when adjusted for inflation, they have not yet reached all-time highs

[shelbyGT]

Gas prices are on the rise, but it may surprise you to learn that when adjusted for inflation, they have not yet reached all-time highs

Yeah, we hear that EVERY day in the news. It's like some big-oil footnote that they have to include. Does it make it any less painful at the pump? NO! And as soon as it hits an average of $3 a gallon here in the US, they can't say that anymore.

[BJ_M]

also -- to be honest , the oil companies are making the largest profits they have ever had ...

[zzyzzx]

I saw this amazing new gas saving device on eBay. Unlike most of the others, this one looks like it really works:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7993916387

[Shadow57]

I saw this amazing new gas saving device on eBay. Unlike most of the others, this one looks like it really works:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7993916387

I bought one of those, but I didn't read
the owner's manual.

I installed it under the brake pedal instead
of the gas pedal.

Duh, I felt really stupid when I smashed into
the tree.


:P

[Xylob the Destroyer]

i guess this is always an option for me...


but that's not necesarilly an option for everybody
thanks to our nation's love affair with the automobile, our public transportation systems are a total joke

[Noahtuck]

$2.40 ??
$2.60 ??



It's been $2.80 a gallon for the cheap stuff for about 4-5 days here!!!

[Shadow57]

Many years ago when I worked in a gas station
we were selling it for 32 cents a gallon, and we also
cleaned the windshield and checked the oil!!!

[BJ_M]

and you were making how much a hour ?

[Shadow57]

and you were making how much a hour ?

Probably more than I'm making today!!!

Things were different then. That gas station only sold gas.
They didn't do repairs.

Today stations have to either do repairs or have an entire
section of the station devoted to selling food items.

Way back then the owners were making about 5 cents
per gallon. I don't know what the profit is today.

I was in school so working there was mostly for fun
instead of for money. Wow, what a pathetic life that was!!!

[zzyzzx]

i guess this is always an option for me...


but that's not necesarilly an option for everybody
thanks to our nation's love affair with the automobile, our public transportation systems are a total joke

Get a road bike instead. Mountain bikes are the SUV's of the biking world.

[shelbyGT]

What if you go on more places than just the road? I've got a mountain bike, and actually it take it on trails through parks around here.

[VideoTechMan]

$2.40 ??
$2.60 ??



It's been $2.80 a gallon for the cheap stuff for about 4-5 days here!!!

It was like that here too in west MI....with super unleaded getting to the $3 mark. One of the temp job locations that I was going to for the last few days I had to quit because driving 40 miles to go there to work wasnt worth it for only $8/hr in pay. Simply can't afford to make that kind of trip driving 80 miles round trip each day for too little pay.

Its only a wish, but it would be nice for all of the oil companies to go out of business. They make enough profit as it is.

VTM

[mrtristan]

We've been getting raped in Hawaii for decades, so I'm used to paying high gas prices. At least prices around the nation aren't that much higher than us, anymore. In some cases, we're actually cheaper, which is pretty damned rare.

I can't believe they only pay 12cents/gallon in Venezuela. You can fill up an SUV there for cheaper than you can fill up a moped in the Netherlands.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

We are one of the biggest suppliers of Oil in the world (along with Venezuela), and here the gas is $2.20 per gallon.

Compare that to Venezuela (0.12c) now, that's unfair!!!

[shelbyGT]

As if we didn't know this, but:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/12420935.htm
(registration required, posted below)

Rising margins have pushed pump prices higher, study finds


Refineries share blame for gas costs

STEVE EVERLY

The Kansas City Star


Record gas-pump prices may have drivers cursing the high price of oil. But more than half of the recent price spike can be traced elsewhere — to refineries.

As fast as gas prices have been rising, the refineries’ margins — the difference between the price of crude oil and the price of wholesale gasoline — have gone up even faster.

The average U.S. price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline went up 26 cents the first two weeks of August, according to the federal Energy Information Administration, and more in some regions, including the Midwest.

Much of the increase has been attributed to rising crude oil prices, which did hit a high last Friday. But an analysis by Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., an investment banking firm in Arlington, Va., shows that rising refinery margins accounted for more than 60 percent — about 16 of the 26 cents — of the average gas price increase.

Looked at another way, the firm figured that while pump prices were rising 11 percent, refinery margins rose 54 percent in the two weeks ending Tuesday.

After that surge, refinery costs contributed an average of 47 cents to the price of a gallon, the firm said.

Another analyst, James Williams of WTRG Economics, attributed even more of the recent increases to refineries. He said his calculations showed that since early August, refinery margins were responsible for two-thirds of the increase in gas prices.

Concerns about refinery outages and supplies pushed up the volatile market, Williams said, and rising oil prices played a secondary role.

“More of the increase was due to concern about refining capacity than the oil market itself,” he said.

Crude oil is still responsible for 55 percent of the total price of gasoline, according to the Energy Information Administration. But in periods of sharp volatility, refining margins can play a larger role in price increases.

Improved margins in the last two years have been responsible for what some in the industry are calling the “golden age of refining.” The industry looks to its margins as a key indicator for how well it is doing.

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey said that refining margins began their most recent surge in late July and nearly doubled by mid-August. The firm uses averages of spot prices and crude oil to figure the margins, which on July 26 were an average of 25 cents per gallon. By Aug. 2 they were at 31 cents, by Aug. 9 at 35 cents, and on Aug. 16 at 47 cents a gallon.

The sharp increases came amid concerns about gasoline supplies.

Recent problems with a BP refinery in Texas and a power outage at a ConocoPhillips’ refinery in Illinois helped trigger the recent increases in gas prices. Concerns earlier this week about a problem at a Exxon Mobil refinery in Texas triggered another surge in prices, even though the problem turned out to be minor.

There is no longer any excess refining capacity to replace supplies that are lost if a refinery has a problem. Refinery capacity since 1981 is down 9 percent even as demand for gasoline is up 38 percent.

Tyson Slocum, research director for the energy program of Public Citizen, an advocacy group in Washington, said the problem stemmed from the failure of the industry to build any new refineries in nearly 30 years and mergers in the industry that have reduced competition.

“It doesn’t surprise me that margins are up,” he said.

The industry says margins in the past have often been too low to encourage expansion.

Environmental regulations and the reluctance of communities to allow refineries to be built nearby also have discouraged new projects.

Edward Murphy, group director of the American Petroleum Institute, said the industry had been saying for the last five years that more capacity was needed. The recent energy bill signed by President Bush is expected to help.

“We need more refining capacity,” he said.

Retail prices surged again Wednesday, reaching an average of $2.65 on the Missouri side of the area and a few cents more on the Kansas side. But now wholesale prices are beginning to decline, and retail prices were down about 6 cents a gallon Thursday around the area.

Williams of WTRG Economics said it appeared that there were fewer concerns about supplies.

“The recent increase in margins is starting to disappear,” he said.

The different tone of the market was apparent Thursday in the trading of wholesale gasoline. Goldman Sachs raised its forecast for crude oil prices for the rest of 2005 to $67 and for 2006 to $68 per barrel.

But the market shook off that prediction, and wholesale prices declined slightly.

“No one seemed to care,” said Lewis Adam, senior commodity adviser for FCStone Trading LLC in Kansas City, in his afternoon market letter.

For consumers, the worst may be over for now. The end of the summer driving season is near, which will reduce demand, and September is historically one of the worst months for refinery margins, according to Friedman, Billings, Ramsey.

So, this isn't price gouging?

But then we have this quote from http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/19/MTFH98823_2005-08-19_21-30-55_EIC964467.html

The American Petroleum Institute, the biggest industry lobbyist, said U.S. oil companies are not benefiting unduly from high energy prices, and said that global crude oil shortages and oil prices near $70 a barrel are to blame.

Excuse me if I don't believe the American Petroleum Institute.

[BJ_M]

said U.S. oil companies are not benefiting unduly from high energy prices

hahaha -- what a bunch of funny guys ...

they should do stand up comedy

look at this chart of 4 of the bigger (and all others i checked were in the same pattern) oil companies profit INCREASE from one year ago ...



this is from a gov report here

http://reid.senate.gov/gasprices0504.cfm

[BJ_M]

no mater how you slice it -- those are some hefty increases in PROFIT (not just revenue) ..

[Faustus]

The real question is. With profits like that wtf is Conoco doing to suck so much?

When my job changed sites to the other side of town managment decided to give everyone who made the transfer a $100 gas card to help cover the inital difference. I have the card, and the drive is only a few miles more for me, without that thing I'd be hurting right now.