Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Gas prices is creeping up again

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-13-2009, 07:08 PM:

I know there is another thread about gas prices but it has almost three hundred posts and I thought it was time to start a new one on the topic.

Unlike most of the United States where the the price of gas went below $2.00 a gallon, the lowest it got in Hawaii was about $2.18 before it started to creep up again. Price for gas now in Hawaii is about $2.35 and it seem to continue to go up. I find this hard to accept when I have not heard about the price of crude oil going up on the international market. With the economy the way it is, I think it is terrible if the national petroleum industry is lining their pockets with excessive profit when almost everyone is hurting.

-Claude

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 02-14-2009, 08:04 AM:

I know someone who works for a fuel supplier and maintains that the current price increases are largely to placate the Saudis. Given that they have announced production cuts I think the market is actually responding to perceived future supply issues. I also heard that prices are being systematically raised because the oil companies can do what they want, which certainly plays into Claude’s hypothesis. I’d really like to know the “real” reason.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-14-2009, 10:19 AM:

The only area where the Saudis could be helped by the current situation is in shipping already refined gasoline.

For whatever reason the oil refineries are currently charging quite a bit more for gasoline than what the price of crude oil would dictate. Many areas of the US should have gasoline prices dipping well below $1.50 per gallon. Instead, we're well above that (it's $1.77 per gallon here for 87 octane).

The refiners have lots of excuses ready if someone asks why prices are high (we're having to retool for warm weather blends of fuel, it's this time of year for certain maintenance so we have to shut down big parts of the refineries, etc.). Either way, their production levels are down noticeably.

Oil supplies at the huge facility in Cushing, OK are at very high levels. Some investors have literally been renting out oil container ships filled with crude and letting them sit off the coast for a few months until oil prices rise again. They call the current situation "contango," where current prices are cheap and futures prices several months out are much higher. But it's a gamble if those futures will actually command those prices at the time of delivery months from now. If our economy is still in the toilet by this Fall, those investors are going to lose quite a bit of money.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 02-14-2009, 06:50 PM:

I heard buzz that, even though right now we are in that so-called 'slump' of oil prices, but when this slump fades out where the economy has almost fully recovered, prices are definitely going to go back to the 3 to 5 and plus dollar range..mainly due to revenge by the Middle East countries so they can recover on their huge losses.

And the Big 3 automakers better be prepared when this comes around for right now, they're bickering on the premise that "America loves their big cars and can't see the reason to make small ones now that the price of fuel is down to the current level.."

..seems that they sure don't want to face the facts, do they...

-Monte

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-14-2009, 09:02 PM:

quote: Rick Raskin
I also heard that prices are being systematically raised because the oil companies can do what they want

I don't think I buy that, otherwise gas would never have gotten as low as it did.

There's also the theory: Well, we lowered prices and people STILL cut back their driving, so screw'em; we'll make a little more money.

I think the above theory about the Saudis cutting back production is the closest, but I also think the whole thing is more complicated than that by a long shot.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 02-14-2009, 09:59 PM:

It probably has something to do with refineries cutting back production to match the reduced demand and prop up the prices. It must reduce their overhead cost significantly to cut back production. From their standpoint, why flood the market with product (which will increase their production costs) only to have the price drop further.

In a round about way it's probably good for the price to creep up a little so that the general public doesn't just go back to buying gas guzzlers for no apparent reason. I have no problem with people buying what they want but it really hurts a lower-middle class family to be driving an SUV that gets 13-16 mpg when the gas price goes up to $4 again. I think a lot of people don't look that far ahead when they make a purchase decision.

As for the big 3, I think the issue is that for whatever reason (union cost etc) they can't make a small car profitably. That's why the focus on SUV's and Trucks because they can actually profit on those. Even with their current lineups, there are plenty of "american" cars that get similar gas milage to the imports. People just don't seem to want to buy them especially at a price that is profitable.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 02-15-2009, 02:30 AM:

Yes, it's interesting that the cost of a barrel of oil floats between 35 to 45 bucks, yet gas prices are steadilly climbing upward..

I do remember when FORD had to sell those little KIA built (making them a 'captive import) Aspires and hated every one of them due to the lack of profit that being made from selling them along with the condition if they sell trucks, they had to sell these little cars.

Oh do agree: Big 3 got themselves in trouble selling big gas guzzling SUVS and trucks in liking the huge profits that came from them..and not expecting to have that bomb dropping in their laps.

Now, with the public learned a hard lesson on greed and demand, are a bit gunshy in wanting to return to that world again since not trusting the oil market right now. That lesson hurt really bad.

-Monte

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-15-2009, 10:42 AM:

The proverbial bloom is off the rose when it comes to America's previous love affair of driving large, gas guzzling vehicles.

The insane, record high prices we saw last summer (and the previous 2-3 years leading up to it) created a great deal of demand destruction. The literal tax it gouged out of the general public is one of the reasons why the economy is in the toilet now. Years ago it seemed like anyone here in Lawton was driving a big truck or SUV and making fun of anyone in a Prius or similar economy car. When those drivers started spending upwards of $100 per week to commute back & forth, etc. it created some big problems. Diesel prices really did a number on a lot of businesses. Today I see far fewer trucks and SUVs on the roads. Most people here are driving smaller, much more fuel efficient vehicles.

I don't see the American public reverting back to driving gas guzzling vehicles any time soon. Everyone remembers vividly how fast prices spiked above $4 per gallon and knows the same thing can happen again. This is essentially why the Big 3 US automakers are on the verge of collapse. The only cool vehicles they sell use a lot of fuel. Want a stylish, well built vehicle that gets great fuel economy? More than likely you'll be buying from a foreign name plate to get that.

With that said, I'll be surprised if the oil industry can prop prices back up in the $3-$4 per gallon range this year at all. I think the futures traders betting on $75 per barrel oil later this year are taking a serious risk.

The thought process of oil futures traders seems to be the economy will snap back to good health and be all rosy near the end of this year. The problem is we're not in a normal cyclical recession. The disaster perpetrated to the housing industry gutted a lot of the spending power of the American public. Long term structural damage has been done to the economy. It will be at least a few years, if not more, before the American public sees home values going anywhere near those peak levels we saw just a couple of years ago. On top of that we still have other looming issues like unchecked price inflation in the higher education and health care sectors that will plunge consumers and our government even deeper in debt.

Unless key people in private industry and government come up with some real solutions to deal with these fundamental problems our economy could be bouncing along in its current shape for much of the next decade. If Americans want to create new wealth, they're going to have to do something besides flipping houses to the next sucker. They'll have to create wealth the old fashioned way: create a new product or service people want or need.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 02-15-2009, 06:56 PM:

..and sadly to note: When one passes used car lots, the majority of the vehicles in there are these road locomotives of yesterday..the SUVS and the huge Tonka Trucks..

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-15-2009, 07:22 PM:

quote:
Gas prices is creeping up again

Yes, and I just read in the last day or so that oil prices keep falling! Go figure. Perhaps Obama can work on this next.

Mark

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-15-2009, 08:51 PM:

Whatever the President says won't make any difference. The market will have the final say. A nation of broke-assed consumers isn't a great foundation on which to build a business model of price gouging. People sticking their financial investment necks out on high oil prices months from now may get decapitated via a cruel but very due reality check. Using things like homes, fuel and food as "asset classes" has very dire consequences. And it's not just stock market consequences either. This kind of turmoil could bleed over into revolutionary situations that have our bill of rights thrown out the window. We have a very serious situation happening right now. The greedy, soul-less fuckers out there had better wake up and realize that instead of trying to pull more and more get rich quick pyramid scheme scams. If not, they could wind up being propped up against a cinder block wall facing a firing squad. We're in uncharted territory in terms of American history right now. Odds are we'll pull out of this funk and get a whole lot better. But the potential is there for things to get a great deal worse and even violent.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 02-16-2009, 04:52 AM:

As this topic of "Gas prices crepping up again" continues, I saw an interesting story in this morning's "The Idaho Statesman" - the Boise Idaho newspaper;

Linky

February 15, 2009

"Crude oil prices have fallen to new lows for this year. So you'd think gas prices would sink right along with them.

Not so.

On Thursday, for example, crude oil closed just under $34 a barrel, its lowest point for 2009. But the national average price of a gallon of gas rose to $1.95 on the same day, its peak for the year. On Friday gas went a penny higher.

To drivers once again grimacing as they tank up, it sounds like a conspiracy. But it has more to do with an energy market turned upside-down that has left gas cut off from its usual economic moorings.

The price of gas is indeed tied to oil. It's just a matter of which oil.

The benchmark for crude oil prices is West Texas Intermediate, drilled exactly where you would imagine. That's the price, set at the New York Mercantile Exchange, that you see quoted on business channels and in the morning paper.

Right now, in an unusual market trend, West Texas crude is selling for much less than inferior grades of crude from other places around the world. A severe economic downturn has left U.S. storage facilities brimming with it, sending prices for the premium crude to five-year lows.

But it is the overseas crude that goes into most of the gas made in the United States. So prices at the pump will probably keep going up no matter what happens to the benchmark price of crude oil.

"We're going definitely over $2, and I bet we'll hit $2.50 before spring," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. "This is going to be an unusual year."

On the last day of 2008, gas went for $1.62 on average, according to the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express, a company that tracks transportation data.

The recession in America has dramatically cut demand for crude oil, and inventories are piling up. So prices for West Texas crude have fallen well below what oil costs from places like the North Sea, Saudi Arabia and South America.

That foreign oil sells in some cases for $10 more per barrel - and that doesn't even include shipping.

Brent North Sea crude, which feeds some East Coast refineries - and therefore winds up at many gas pumps around America - now costs about $7 more per barrel than the West Texas crude. Deutsche Bank analysts say the trend should continue.

Historically, West Texas International crude has cost more. So nobody bothered building the necessary pipelines to carry it beyond the nearby refineries in the Midwest, parts of Texas and a handful of other places.

Now that the premium oil is suddenly very inexpensive, refiners elsewhere can't get their hands on it.

"It's so cheap," said Lynn Westphall, the senior VP of external affairs at San Antonio-based Tesoro, which owns a half dozen refineries on the West Coast and Hawaii. "But you can't just build a pipeline to everywhere. We know we can't get it."

Tesoro's refineries in North Dakota and Utah use locally drilled oil and Canadian oil, which also has been running about $10 more per barrel than West Texas crude.

So why not build more pipelines? Because investing billions of dollars over several years makes no sense when the prices could just flip a year from now to where they were before.

"How long is WTI going to be cheaper than Venezuelan oil? Than Canadian?" asked Charles T. Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. "You just don't build a pipeline like that."

At the same time, refiners have seen the same headlines as everyone else about job losses and consumer spending. They've slashed production just to avoid taking losses on gasoline no one will buy. Result: Higher gas prices.

"Why should a refiner produce more gasoline when the stuff we produce is not being used?" Drevna said.

Of course, complex explanations of the diverging price paths of West Texas crude and gas are unlikely to placate frustrated drivers. Memories of last summer's $4-plus gas have not receded.

"Drivers are being ripped off even more now than before," said Stuart Pollok, who was filling up recently at a Chevron station in downtown Los Angeles. He pointed out Exxon Mobil Corp. reeled in billions in profits last year when oil prices neared $150.

Others see the conspiracy reaching higher.

"It got really low during the elections and now it's going back up," said Christel Sayegh, a 23-year-old graphic designer in Los Angeles. "They do that every election, though, right?" "

------------Idaho Statesman, Feb, 16, 2009--------------

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-16-2009, 09:40 AM:

quote:
Historically, West Texas International crude has cost more. So nobody bothered building the necessary pipelines to carry it beyond the nearby refineries in the Midwest, parts of Texas and a handful of other places.

Now that the premium oil is suddenly very inexpensive, refiners elsewhere can't get their hands on it.

"It's so cheap," said Lynn Westphall, the senior VP of external affairs at San Antonio-based Tesoro, which owns a half dozen refineries on the West Coast and Hawaii. "But you can't just build a pipeline to everywhere. We know we can't get it."
...
So why not build more pipelines? Because investing billions of dollars over several years makes no sense when the prices could just flip a year from now to where they were before.

So according to that article, there is NO WAY we can ever cut our dependence on foreign oil. Meaning a large part of the recent political campaign was total baloney, assuming the politicians knew that fact.

No surprise, I guess.

Posted by Robert Minichino (Member # 3495) on 02-16-2009, 12:31 PM:

Within similar grades, crude oil is fungible, and between grades it's still fairly fungible, so as long as we consume less in proportion to our production we'll still lessen our dependence on foreign oil no matter where we're actually getting it from. If a foreign supplier decides to cut us off then it'd be a perfect case for building a pipeline.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 02-16-2009, 02:01 PM:

More woes on what oil is going to do in the coming months

Another Linky

Oil up on 'supply crunch' warning

Mr Tanaka said he expects demand for oil to rise next year

Oil prices have risen after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that there could be supply shortages next year once demand picks up.

Nobuo Tanaka, the IEA's executive director, warned there could be a "supply crunch".

US light crude for March delivery rose 65 cents to $38.16 a barrel. Brent oil added 29 cents to $45.10 a barrel.

Crude prices had jumped on Friday on renewed optimism that a US stimulus package would revive the economy.

"Currently the demand is very low due to the very bad economic situation," Mr Tanaka said.

"But when the economy starts growing, recovery comes again in 2010 and then onward, we may have another serious supply crunch if capital investment is not coming."

He said that he expected world oil demand to rise by about one million barrels per day from next year.

Mr Tanaka also urged the oil producers' cartel Opec not to seek a rapid price increase by cutting supply, adding that a lower price "helps the economic recovery".

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-18-2009, 04:26 AM:

(Time to drag this one out again...)

Has anyone notice that diesel is NOW cheaper than gasoline?

Odd, aint it?

$2.69/gal here in the Boise area..

-Monte

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 06-18-2009, 09:27 AM:

1.05 ca a litre in toronto last weekend

Posted by Julio Roberto (Member # 4976) on 06-18-2009, 09:39 AM:

And you think you have it tough.

Gas costs here close to 1€ per liter. At today's exchange rate and unit convertion, the exact amount in a random gas station in Madrid is $5.032 US per gallon.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 06-18-2009, 12:25 PM:

According to an article in my local newspaper yesterday, the price of a barrel is traded around $70 USD and that the increasing prices are primarily due to speculation on the commodities market. The $70 is the commodities price not necessarily what OPEC is getting.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-18-2009, 01:00 PM:

Gasoline prices have been rising like crazy lately. A couple months ago they were well under $2.00 per gallon. Now 87 octane fuel costs $2.63 per gallon.

Commodity speculators are at it again, essentially making us pay a lot more now for what they think may be an economic recovery several months or more in the future. Some of these guys are even throwing out wishful thoughts of $150-$200 per barrel oil. I've got some news for them (which they already know but are too greedy to admit): more price gouging on energy will eliminate any economic recovery. The market will just go bouncing sideways if not testing new lows.

There is no escaping the absolute fact consumers have only so much money they can spend. With unemployment rates being high this isn't exactly the kind of environment where just anyone can approach the boss about a pay raise. Consumer credit is still largely frozen unless you have a stellar credit rating (which translates into not needing any loans in the first place). In the end, the consumer has no wiggle room. If he is putting an ever larger slice of his income into fuel, utilities and food costs that's going to mean less money to spend in other areas of the economy. Very simple math. 70% of the US economy is driven by consumer spending. High oil prices are good for the oil industry, but it sucks for most other sectors of business.

quote: Julio Roberto
Gas costs here close to 1€ per liter. At today's exchange rate and unit convertion, the exact amount in a random gas station in Madrid is $5.032 US per gallon.

There's a big factor that must be clarified. Most of Europe is well covered with passenger rail service, not to mention other modes of mass transit. That's far from the case here in the United States. It's much easier for someone to get by without owning a car in Europe than it is in the United States.

With long established mass transit alternatives like passenger rail that puts a lesser percentage of commuters on the roads. That increases the road maintenance cost burden of those who choose to drive. This is why fuel is so expensive in Europe.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 06-18-2009, 01:39 PM:

The problem with the oil commodity is that the price seems to have almost nothing to do with true supply and demand. We could all drive 200 mpg vehicles and gas will just go up to $9 per gallon.

The only thing we could really do is open up all of our offshore, alaska and everywhere else reserves for drilling. Part of the lease could be that oil pumped out of these areas may only be sold to the US market and that each platform must put out a minimum barrels per day to prevent the artificial lowering of supply.

That could buy us the decade or decade and a half that it will take to develop any real alternative transportation fuel source.

Increasing CAFE standards is not going to solve this problem. As long as we rely on foreign oil we are basically stuck paying whatever OPEC and the speculators decide.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-18-2009, 03:37 PM:

I think we're pretty screwed regardless.

It's possible to drill in more places offshore or in wilderness areas of Alaska. Unfortunately it would take years for such drilling operations to come online even on land in Alaska. You need infrastructure elements like roads and pipelines to get the oil from the fields out to the shipping ports. That isn't easy or cheap to build up there. Basically there is nothing to stop short term oil price spikes except for another negative tailspin in the American economy.

The added oil supply would help in terms of a plan of weaning us off dependence of foreign oil imports and pursuing alternative energy plans. But it is clear that both big government and big business too often only think about the short term. When oil prices collapsed a few months ago the plug was pulled on lots of alternative energy projects. Suddenly they weren't profitable enough. Once oil goes back over $100 per barrel they'll talk about alternative energy again. Then it will get put on the back burner yet again when the economy delivers yet another negative correction.

Basically, we have neither the political or business will in really getting something fundamentally accomplished in terms of alternative energy. We're just going to need so severe a situation that we will embrace the alternative when there is no other choice. I think this is true for a number of other difficult issues the United States is facing. It takes utter disaster for us to start trying to solve a problem. We don't like preventing a crisis. The situation is quite funny. Sort of like giving chemotherapy treatments to someone after they already died of cancer.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-18-2009, 04:58 PM:

235.9 here at Simth's if you buy 80.00 worth of grceries. Otherwise 245.9.

Mark

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-18-2009, 06:50 PM:

That's not much of a "deal." Buy $80 in groceries, and 25 gallons of gas, save a whopping $2.50.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 06-18-2009, 07:18 PM:

Something I read a few weeks ago was that the traders are filling any thing that will hold more than 5 gallons with crude hoping for a tremendous price rise. Old tankers were cited as the primary storage.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 06-18-2009, 07:59 PM:

Regular unleaded is now $3.00 a gallon in Hawaii and will keep rising. On top of that, there will be a drastic Hawaii state ten cent fuel tax increase on July 1st. In addition to the fuel tax increase, regular unleaded gas should be about $3.50 or more by the end of July. If gas prices continue to go up, we should be paying $5.00 a gallon very soon [Frown]

-Claude

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 06-18-2009, 08:19 PM:

quote:
If gas prices continue to go up, we should be paying $5.00 a gallon very soon [Frown]

Even if it got to those prices, I think you have a bargain. At the moment, prices in the UK are close to around $9 a gallon.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-18-2009, 09:17 PM:

I guess it bears repeating: people in Europe have reasonable alternatives to driving a car. If it's too expensive to drive, you just commute by train, bus, etc. Most people in the United States don't have those alternatives.

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 06-19-2009, 08:24 PM:

So Bobby, You don't have trains, buses etc in the States? I'm guessing by reasonable alternatives you assume that in 'Europe' public transport is readily available and from all locations?

A huge percentage of the UK (and in fact Europe) is mainly rural, and has very limited access to Bus, Trains and public transport in general. I don't really see any difference to the US in that aspect.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-20-2009, 01:38 AM:

Europe has vastly far superior coverage in terms of passenger rail service coverage than the United States. Same thing goes for bus transportation.

As far as I can tell (from looking via Google Earth) Galashiels doesn't have any passenger rail service. Neither does Lawton, OK.

Let's compare further. The nearest passenger rail outlet to me is in downtown Oklahoma City, a 90 mile drive NE on Interstate 44. From there the only rail service is Amtrak's Heartland Flyer down to Fort Worth, TX. That's it. No stops elsewhere to cities like Tulsa, Amarillo, Kansas City, etc. Nothing in terms of commuter rail. The few lines of light rail service in Dallas is the nearest thing for that.

You can drive A-68 a little over 30 miles North to Edinburgh. That city has more passenger rail service than Oklahoma City. From there you can connect on train routes to Glasgow, Falkirk, Stirling or head down into most any part of Britain. That's not quite so easy to do here in the United States.

Going farther, most American cities don't have commuter rail service. Only the very biggest cities. And those commuter rail services are typically isolated. They don't connect with other rail networks. That's not the case in Europe. Amtrak is a mere shadow of its former self. Look at all the long distance rail service lines available in the UK or all of Europe. Then look at Amtrak in the US. Amtrak is just pathetic by comparison, and Amtrak is expected to cover a larger area of territory!

Please don't take that as me mocking Europe's mass transit system. I would very much prefer the situation to be similar here. But it isn't, all thanks to the oil lobby, the auto manufacturing lobby and even the airline industry lobby. They don't want train service hitting all parts of the US like it did back in the early 1900s. There are people in my own home state just salivating over the idea of $5 and higher per gallon gasoline with no other transportation alternative. But like I've said in earlier posts, if we get to that point the US economy will be twisting under the turds in the bottom of the toilet.

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 06-20-2009, 08:33 PM:

Fair play to you Bobby, I'm impressed by your research. As you pointed out, There are connections somewhat closer than perhaps you have over there. I apologise if I was rude in my earlier post, but in this subject you can possibly forgive it as in my location (and I have to drive 20 miles just to get to Galashiels) a car is absolutely essential - there are no alternatives at all. I'm just very frustrated at the spiralling fuel costs, and sorry if I vented that frustration at you!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-21-2009, 10:56 AM:

There's also another alternative: bicycle paths. Not enough cities in the US have them or are trying to develop them.

I live close enough to my work place that I can bicycle to and from there in less than 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the ride is somewhat dangerous thanks to not having any sort of bike path network at all. A few doctors, real estate people and such are promoting a new bike path network for Lawton and a Rails to Trails project to convert a decommissioned freight rail line into a path running from Lawton up into the Wichita Mountains. But I have no idea when or if anything substantial will ever happen.

Posted by Brian Guckian (Member # 1678) on 06-21-2009, 11:07 AM:

A massive rail development / re-construction programme in the US would provide hundreds of thousands of jobs.

It would also enormously expand the market for rail vehicles of all kinds. GM etc. could then re-direct manufacturing into that area.

With climate change and peak oil the day of the automobile and short-haul aviation is very much over.

In Scotland, the railway to (or near) Galashiels is planned to be re-built as part of the Borders Rail project.

And here in Ireland, we're eh, still building unsustainable motorways we don't need and seeking to cut back on some of our rail services - duh [Frown]

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 06-21-2009, 01:38 PM:

Although I use my car when I have to do a photographic assignment, most of my commuting is by public transportation when I visit my mother at her nursing home almost every day at Kapolei, Hawaii and when I go to my color lab in Honolulu to drop off and pick up work. Honolulu's mass transit system is considered one of the best in the country and have won the "BEST IN THE USA" award two years in a row a couple of years ago. The monthly bus pass now cost $40.00 and will increase by $10.00 next month for everyone under age 65 except children. We seniors have the best deal in town when we can buy a ANNUAL pass for just $30.00 [Smile]

I love our transit system with very comfortable busses and the opportunity to catch up on my reading and sleep or do some of my work with my laptop computer.

-Claude

Posted by Brian Guckian (Member # 1678) on 06-22-2009, 08:12 AM:

Sounds great - very civilised!

quote: Bobby Henderson
But I have no idea when or if anything substantial will ever happen.

That's because the enormous cultural attachment to the automobile worldwide has to be broken. And it should be done by using the same clever advertising techniques that mostly caused this problem in the first place [Wink]

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 07-12-2009, 08:51 PM:

...and the price is going down again

Posted by Jeremy Weigel (Member # 4208) on 07-12-2009, 09:17 PM:

Yep, back down below $2 for 87 octane at a few stations around here.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-12-2009, 11:49 PM:

That's typical!

Down here (a 90 minute drive from Edmond) the price of 87 octane is $2.39 per gallon. And that price has been in effect only since late Friday when the prices were previously in the $2.45 - $2.49 range.

Whenever the price of oil jumps at all, the price at the pumps also jumps immediately. When oil prices fall the gas stations always take their sweet time in lowering prices as slowly as possible.

Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 07-13-2009, 01:40 AM:

I paid $2.45 Saturday night, which is the lowest I've seen since early June. It's nice that gas prices here are among the highest in the contiguous states, seeing as the unemployment rate is closing on 15% and incomes are falling rapidly. Nothing helps dig people out of a depression like rising energy prices.

Fortunately for me, I just doubled my fuel efficiency by getting a motorcycle.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-13-2009, 01:46 AM:

Oil prices are gradually slipping a bit - now around $62/barrel.

But, the price of the pumps over here haven't changed any - $2.73/gal for the last three weeks ..

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-13-2009, 08:21 AM:

The folks running the United States are in a battle over just what to do. One side wants to tax us to prosperity while the other side wants to price gouge us to prosperity.

Typical for those out of touch douchebags.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 07-13-2009, 07:57 PM:

Hawaii's prices is still the highest in the country at $3.15 for a gallon of regular. With the recent Hawaii state fuel tax increase, it was about $3.25 a little over a week ago but it is good to see the prices coming down again

-Claude

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-15-2009, 12:49 AM:

Now things are showing a decrease - oil below $60/barrel and we're down to $2.63/gal

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 07-15-2009, 06:11 AM:

Gas is $2.399 per gallon here today. What a wonderful boost to our tourist business for the Summer.

KEN

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 07-17-2009, 05:08 PM:

Today it is $2.329 per gallon.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-17-2009, 11:17 PM:

I filled up my pickup with 87 octane this morning for $2.34 (and 9 tenths). With the stock market gaining about 7% this week the price of oil is trying to creep upward. As of this writing oil stands at $63.56, up about $3 from earlier in the week.

Some big earnings reports are due next week, particularly from some heavy hitters in tech like Apple and Microsoft. If they post good numbers I'm sure the commodities guys will find some excuses to push oil back above $70 per barrel.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 07-19-2009, 02:33 PM:

I was right, gas prices is coming down in Hawaii except the one I USED to go to. While most stations charge close to $3.00 a gallon for regular now, this station increased their prices from $3.19 to $3.22 on Friday. What a Rip Off [Mad]

It is a Union station and there is a new station not too far away that charge only $3.03 along with many others. I guess this new Union will get my business from now on. [Smile]

-Claude