$105 oil - Page 9 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Peakster · 05-13-2008, 01:45 PM

Why is there such a growing divergence of gasoline and diesel prices in the USA? Right now, diesel is a little more (like maybe a cent or two) than gas here in Canada, but not anything near like the USA.

Are diesel users paying more to offset the gasoline price to keep it artificially low in the USA? Or is there some other tax or something that creates the price difference?

dremd · 05-13-2008, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peakster

Why is there such a growing divergence of gasoline and diesel prices in the USA? Right now, diesel is a little more (like maybe a cent or two) than gas here in Canada, but not anything near like the USA.

Are diesel users paying more to offset the gasoline price to keep it artificially low in the USA? Or is there some other tax or something that creates the price difference?

<Conspiracy theory>

Honda, VW, Mercades + others are planning on introducing Diesels in to the States later this year, the high price negates much of the financial benifit, hence keeping the new breed of fuel efficient vehicles off of the road,

Also I think we are being *Punished* for requiring ultra low sulfur Diesel.

</ Conspiracy Theory>

How long has Canada had ULSD?

Tax is 6 cents per gallon higher on Diesel in Most states, some states it is 8 cents per gallon, although that does add to the difference, it isn't much$.

Peakster · 05-13-2008, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dremd

How long has Canada had ULSD?

According to Wikipedia, Canada made it's first step in 2006 (the same as the USA?), but American standards measure parts-per-million while we use milligrams/kilogram. So an immediate comparison is difficult to do.

igo · 05-14-2008, 12:36 PM

Peakster, diesel has been $4.50-$4.60 for the past month here. I know the news was saying that the high price was caused by demand still being high.

Now back to what the thread is really about. Yesterday was a record high for oil during trading. Oil was just shy of $127. Gas is up to record highs also (currently $3.775/gal us average).

njlou · 05-14-2008, 10:40 PM

I think i can explain the difference in price: gas/diesel. Our good hearted environmentalists feel that the air must remain pure at any cost, so we now have "medically pure" (LOL) diesel to run our vehicles. couple that with the soot filters and diesel is not very cheap anymore. wait till they make us heat our homes with that stuff and put in a soot filter. At that point i will heat my house by setting it on fire.

trebuchet03 · 05-14-2008, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njlou

I think i can explain the difference in price: gas/diesel. Our good hearted environmentalists feel that the air must remain pure at any cost, so we now have "medically pure" (LOL) diesel to run our vehicles.

Not that it should remain pure.... But that it shouldn't remain ****ty... Pardon the language, but we're all old enough to use words to express gravity.

It's really simple to find the source of price.... What is the distribution network for the US and Canada (probably Mexico too)? Diesel powered trucks - consumer demand has remained with a positive acceleration while domestic fuel throughput has remained pretty flat. At some point, it's going to become cheaper to import refined petroleum products (if we haven't crossed that already). It's the same in the Europe, and N. America isn't immune to a shorter supplies. You can't "Just pump more" or "make less gasoline" - it's just no the chemistry of the beast...

Price difference gas and fuel (May 14, 2008)
14.95% (Diesel being that much higher than gasoline) - Cite: fuelgaugereport.com - AAA's national averages

2003 Jetta Diesel mpg
35/44

2003 Jetta Gasser (2.0) mpg
21/29

mpg difference %
40%/34.09%

Currently, given the cost of fuel, Fuel is the highest cost of operating a vehicle at the moment... According to the US BTS

The interesting thing is... The linear increase in fuel prices over the past couple months. http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/

dremd · 05-15-2008, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njlou

I think i can explain the difference in price: gas/diesel. Our good hearted environmentalists feel that the air must remain pure at any cost, so we now have "medically pure" (LOL) diesel to run our vehicles.

Ok, then why is Diesel cheper than Petrol in Europe where they also requre "medically pure" Diesel

Quote:

Originally Posted by njlou

couple that with the soot filters and diesel is not very cheap anymore. wait till they make us heat our homes with that stuff and put in a soot filter.

How exactly does soot filters increase the price of fuel?

Quote:

Originally Posted by njlou

At that point i will heat my house by setting it on fire.

Sounds like a great plan to me.