Gas prices up

[jamesqf]

Drove past the usual stations in Carson City (Nevada) this afternoon, and they were pretty much the same price they were last week when I filled up - $3.60-something at the cheap/convenient station I usually go to. Will probably be another 2-3 weeks before I have to fill up the Insight's tank again, and put in a whole 9.5 gallons :-)

But you know, there's another question here. How many of those people could possibly have been unaware of the fact that Ike was coming; that it would almost certainly shut down some refinery operations; and that based on past experience, the price of gas would probably spike as a result? So why the heck didn't all these people fill their tanks a few days ago, when prices were at their lowest? Instead they wait until they jump, panic, then complain about price gouging, when (in my politically-incorrect opinion) they'd to better to be taking their brains back to the dealer for some badly-needed warranty work :-)

[meemooer]

why is gas higher in states NOT effected by any current natural disasters? From Michigan to straight down to florida. Doesn't really make sense to me. If gas spikes 4+ here near cleveland ohio, i am screwed. I gas up every 3 days, and i have 1/2 tank[6~8 gal.] I might be able to make it to Tuesday

[Hasbro]

$3.38 for reg. plus my preferred shopper's discount = $3.23.

[mhmitszach]

Can anyone explain how diesel is cheaper though?

For the past 3 or 4 days, I've seen diesel at least 10 to 20 cents cheaper than gasoline.

[azraelswrd]

Yeah, I believe it was the administration that hung the blame on the last price hike on speculators. Go figure! And by "official", it was released through the press circuits (since I heard it through NPR)

Gas price spikes have a lot of factors, predominantly geography and distance from refineries and take into account local or regional price additives (as those in California). Once upon a time, Alaska was the most expensive but I guess that's out the door with the panic pricing. Nothing new there -- I see it as a free market system in effect.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hiya,

The previous tank, I paid $3.419, and the tank today was $3.709; a 29 cent jump in less than a week.

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by ankit

Who can we blame? My dad was kind of excited about seeing the price almost to two digits ($99.xx) but then when we got the next delivery somehow the company charged us .25 cents more per gallon. There is no way for the gas stations to bring the price down even though the crude price is at a decent spot. Right now, when half of the gas stations in the area are out of fuel, the station is making .09 cents per gallon.

I don't know who exactly is making the money, could you answer that question for me (not being sarcastic)?

I realize the little guys who run the stations only make like a penny per gallon profit. They make a lot more off other things in the store. Im talking about the gasoline companies. Theyre the ones in the chain that buy the crude at $100 a barrel instead of $145 and still sell the gas they make for the same. The Saudis and whoever else we import the crude from have lowered their prices considerably. Its windfall profits for the gasoline companies. And unfortunately thats just the way business works when theres no real competition. Most places today were $4.299 for 87 octane.

[DifferentPointofView]

$3.23

What!?

I don't know what it is, but how come IL has gas prices over 4 bucks and many near 5, but we're no where near affected by the hurricane? AZ is much closer to Texas.

Prices dropping back to their norms at around 3.90 something here now. I just wish they'd go down.

[MechEngVT]

I drove by a sign on I-95 south of Richmond yesterday and swore it was a mistake...large LCD billboard advertising gas at $4.999 and diesel at $4.059, I thought that they had swapped prices and that they were a bit high for the region (higher than I would have considered paying). I even noted some "East Coast" brand stations yesterday that appeared to have run out or quit selling gasoline as their pumps were off and no fuel price was advertised.

Then I go to GasBuddy and check out their Richmond gas prices web site. HOLY CRAP the market schizophrenia is unbelievable.

Regular gasoline ranges from $3.49 to $4.49 (not sure what happened to $4.99?) and diesel ranges from $3.88 to $4.69.

It seems that most of the pricing is toward the lower end of the range (don't have full data available to analyze) as there's more large jumps within the highest-priced 15 stations than there is within the lowest-priced 15 stations.

There must be some hurricane-related fallout as that's the only thing that can explain refined product price volatility like this. It isn't as pronounced as after Katrina (I had to drive from GA to SW-VA within a week after Katrina and almost had to stay the night in Charlotte because an open gas station was a RARE find) so it probably won't last as long or affect as many consumers. I do believe that some (not all) supply chains are affected temporarily and that might be why some places have either shut down or jacked prices but not others.

[Doofus McFancypants]

There was a station here in Atlanta area who jumped the price to $5.25 / gas.
within the hour the news crews where there broadcasting about the price jump - Gov Perdue re-enacted his post-Katrina "Price Gouging" checks - "Promising" to punish any stations who are overcharging customers and feeding the hysteria.

Within the hour the station changed price back to $4.25.

Supply and demand does work - but when some individuals try to capatolize on the hysteria and make a quick buck - then people are raked over the coals.

It is true though - it does take 2 people for a con to work - the guy raising the price to $5.25 and the guy who still stops to fill up there.

( i got gas for $3.55 2 days before. so i am good for the month)