Price of Gas
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Price of Gas
With using premium only, I have been paying over $4 a gallon for some time. With a new forecast coming out today that we could see a $150 barrel oil before year end, at what price would you start to consider getting a new ride?
Personally, mine would have to be real high... like $10 high, and the spread between regular and premium would have to grow. Unfortunately, I think we will soon be paying $5 a gallon for premium, but I'm not giving mine up!!!
Personally, mine would have to be real high... like $10 high, and the spread between regular and premium would have to grow. Unfortunately, I think we will soon be paying $5 a gallon for premium, but I'm not giving mine up!!!
Re: Price of Gas
I just traded my M3 for this and am a credit nightmare so no more trades for me for a while regardless of what gas does.
Also, I occasionally alternate between a tank of Premium and a tank of Mid-grade depending on how much the individual gas station is gouging for each one.
Sometimes the independent gas stations GOUGE for midgrade and price Premium reasonably, other times they try to justify a 40 cent price premium over regular which I REFUSE to pay. I try to use QwikTrips, RaceTracs etc as often as I can to not have to deal with the BS independent gas owners pull with the prices of premium and mid.
Also, I occasionally alternate between a tank of Premium and a tank of Mid-grade depending on how much the individual gas station is gouging for each one.
Sometimes the independent gas stations GOUGE for midgrade and price Premium reasonably, other times they try to justify a 40 cent price premium over regular which I REFUSE to pay. I try to use QwikTrips, RaceTracs etc as often as I can to not have to deal with the BS independent gas owners pull with the prices of premium and mid.
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Re: Price of Gas
Originally Posted by InfernoRedXfire
Keep the xfire for fun times and buy a moped, scooter or bike for travel to work.
It costs me $60+ to fill up the XF, but it costs me $35 to fill up my other car - and I only have to do it every 25 days.
It also lets me keep the mileage on the XF down to less than 6000 a year, which in turn lowers my insurance to something like $540 a year.
I spent $1000 on that japanese economy car two years ago and it has saved me probably around $800 a year or more.
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This way I get to take care of her more often by detailing, detailing and more detailing! 
Re: Price of Gas
Check this out, I know most of you are not from WV (I am) but this shows you just how quickly prices have went up:
How did things ever get this bad?
How did gas prices get so incredibly high?
How will we ever get them under control?
While I cannot predict the future of gas prices I can shed some light on how gas prices reached an all-time high this week of $4.04 per gallon in West Virginia. I have compiled a list of prices and excuses...er...reasons the oil companies raised the prices over the past nine years.
First, let's go back to the good 'ole days of 1999.
On Thanksgiving weekend of 1999 gas prices were just $1.33 per gallon. It was the waning days of the Clinton administration and the end of a prosperous decade that saw extremely low gas prices. A year later prices had climbed, but not much. Thanksgiving of 2000 the average price of a gallon of unleaded in West Virginia was $1.57. George W. Bush had just been elected president in a controversial election. For the next year gas prices stayed steady, rising and falling by no more than 20 cents a gallon.
Then the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. One would think by the way oil companies respond to similar events today that such an event would cause panic and force prices at the pump to skyrocket.
Not so. In fact, gas prices went down. In December of 2001 gas was just $1.11 per gallon in West Virginia.
Over the next two years prices steadily raised by a few cents a month until they reached $1.47 a gallon in March of 2003. We all know what happened in March of 2003--the United States invaded Iraq.
That surely sent gas prices through the roof, right?
Nope.
Six months later gas was just $1.69 a gallon. At the time AAA said prices were far lower than what many energy watchers were forecasting prior to the war in Iraq. Some were predicting prices near two dollars a gallon during the spring and summer of 2003.
A major power outage in the Northeast and Midwest that summer briefly shut down gasoline refineries and fuel distribution and delivery operations combined with a break in a pipeline in Arizona caused prices to spike.
Americans were outraged at the high prices and fearful of the prospect that prices could top $2.00 a gallon, but looking back we would all gladly pay those prices today.
In 2004, prices continued to steadily climb until they reached that terrible $2.00 mark late that summer. U.S. gasoline demand that summer was a record high 9.4 million barrels per day, which was about two percent above the previous year. Crude oil was around $50 a barrel on Labor Day. Over the following months gas prices flirted above and below the $2.00 mark. Hurricane Ivan put a crimp on oil supplies by damaging oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. It was estimated that the U.S. lost more than 11 million barrels of oil production over a two week period.
But Hurricane Ivan would be a puppy dog compared to what was in store for the Gulf Coast.
In late August 2005 Hurricane Katrina ripped through the gulf destroying oil rigs and much of the city of New Orleans. It crippled refineries throughout the region. Gas prices jumped more than 70 cents in a matter of days and we were paying $3.09 a gallon by Labor Day.
Things calmed down and prices went back down, but never since have dropped below $2.00 a gallon. By Christmas 2005 the prices were down to $2.24 a gallon.
In January of 2006 experts said a stronger economy led to higher energy demands which drove up the cost of crude oil and wholesale gasoline. The average price of a gallon of gas was $2.44 in West Virginia. By March questions over the strength of the U-S economy and the Iranian nuclear issue drove up prices. A strong spring and summer travel season increased demand and prices.
In April of 2007 oil company officials said a larger population of people relying on cars along with refinery fires and outages lowering the production of gas resulted in higher gas prices. Gas companies claimed to have the lowest gasoline reserves that they ever had thanks to Hurricane Katrina and stoked the fires of fear that a bad hurricane season could bring prices up even more if there was damage to gasoline refineries. Continued unrest in the Middle East and Nigeria also contributed to the high prices.
However, the ever increasing cost of gas did not affect travel, until this year.
On Thanksgiving of 2001--post 9/11--AAA said travel was down, but it affected the airlines more than the highways. Those that were traveling, travelled by car. Eighty-seven percent of the travelers that Thanksgiving drove. That added up to 30-million travelers who travelled by motor vehicle, that's out of 34-million travelers using planes, trains and automobiles.
By Thanksgiving 2005--post Katrina--AAA said more than 37 million people travelled more than 50 miles from home.
Then by Thanksgiving 2007, despite the rise in price, AAA saw a record 38.7 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more over the holiday weekend. That was a 1.6 percent increase over the previous year.
This Memorial Day weekend AAA expected 37.9 million Americans to travel more than 50 miles from home. The first decrease in travel since 9/11. However, AAA spokesperson Bevi Powell doesn’t think $4 gas will stop people from travelling this summer. We will all be getting economic stimulus checks from the federal government and many will spend their IRS refund checks on vacations. However, the destinations may change. Norris anticipates more Americans will opt for shorter trips closer to home.
So, as Loretta Lynn said, “We’ve come a long way baby.” From $1.11 a gallon just seven years ago to $4.04 today with no end in sight.
Here is a date-by-date breakdown of the history of gas prices in West Virginia. Numbers are based on the AAA fuel gauge and are for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.
Thanksgiving 1999--$1.33
11/21/2000--$1.57
6/12/2001--$1.64
6/27/2001--$1.54
8/23/2001--$1.40
12/19/2001--$1.11
3/27/2002--$1.32
7/10/2002--$1.35
10/2/2002--$1.43
1/2/2003--$1.47
5/29/2003--$1.42
9/9/2003--$1.69
4/14/2004--$1.74
5/5/2004--$1.84
6/9/2004--$1.96
10/20/2004--$2.04
12/15/2004--$1.81
4/6/2005--$2.29
5/11/2005--$2.11
6/8/2005--$2.09
8/10/2005--$2.36
9/1/2005 (post-Katrina) $3.09
12/14/2005--$2.24
3/8/2006--$2.31
6/29/2006--$2.79
1/15/2007--$2.21
4/23/2007--$2.57
6/27/2007--$2.98
11/20/2007--$3.15
2/11/2008--$3.06
3/14/2008--$3.37
4/23/2008--$3.61
5/24/2008--$4.04
How did gas prices get so incredibly high?
How will we ever get them under control?
While I cannot predict the future of gas prices I can shed some light on how gas prices reached an all-time high this week of $4.04 per gallon in West Virginia. I have compiled a list of prices and excuses...er...reasons the oil companies raised the prices over the past nine years.
First, let's go back to the good 'ole days of 1999.
On Thanksgiving weekend of 1999 gas prices were just $1.33 per gallon. It was the waning days of the Clinton administration and the end of a prosperous decade that saw extremely low gas prices. A year later prices had climbed, but not much. Thanksgiving of 2000 the average price of a gallon of unleaded in West Virginia was $1.57. George W. Bush had just been elected president in a controversial election. For the next year gas prices stayed steady, rising and falling by no more than 20 cents a gallon.
Then the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. One would think by the way oil companies respond to similar events today that such an event would cause panic and force prices at the pump to skyrocket.
Not so. In fact, gas prices went down. In December of 2001 gas was just $1.11 per gallon in West Virginia.
Over the next two years prices steadily raised by a few cents a month until they reached $1.47 a gallon in March of 2003. We all know what happened in March of 2003--the United States invaded Iraq.
That surely sent gas prices through the roof, right?
Nope.
Six months later gas was just $1.69 a gallon. At the time AAA said prices were far lower than what many energy watchers were forecasting prior to the war in Iraq. Some were predicting prices near two dollars a gallon during the spring and summer of 2003.
A major power outage in the Northeast and Midwest that summer briefly shut down gasoline refineries and fuel distribution and delivery operations combined with a break in a pipeline in Arizona caused prices to spike.
Americans were outraged at the high prices and fearful of the prospect that prices could top $2.00 a gallon, but looking back we would all gladly pay those prices today.
In 2004, prices continued to steadily climb until they reached that terrible $2.00 mark late that summer. U.S. gasoline demand that summer was a record high 9.4 million barrels per day, which was about two percent above the previous year. Crude oil was around $50 a barrel on Labor Day. Over the following months gas prices flirted above and below the $2.00 mark. Hurricane Ivan put a crimp on oil supplies by damaging oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. It was estimated that the U.S. lost more than 11 million barrels of oil production over a two week period.
But Hurricane Ivan would be a puppy dog compared to what was in store for the Gulf Coast.
In late August 2005 Hurricane Katrina ripped through the gulf destroying oil rigs and much of the city of New Orleans. It crippled refineries throughout the region. Gas prices jumped more than 70 cents in a matter of days and we were paying $3.09 a gallon by Labor Day.
Things calmed down and prices went back down, but never since have dropped below $2.00 a gallon. By Christmas 2005 the prices were down to $2.24 a gallon.
In January of 2006 experts said a stronger economy led to higher energy demands which drove up the cost of crude oil and wholesale gasoline. The average price of a gallon of gas was $2.44 in West Virginia. By March questions over the strength of the U-S economy and the Iranian nuclear issue drove up prices. A strong spring and summer travel season increased demand and prices.
In April of 2007 oil company officials said a larger population of people relying on cars along with refinery fires and outages lowering the production of gas resulted in higher gas prices. Gas companies claimed to have the lowest gasoline reserves that they ever had thanks to Hurricane Katrina and stoked the fires of fear that a bad hurricane season could bring prices up even more if there was damage to gasoline refineries. Continued unrest in the Middle East and Nigeria also contributed to the high prices.
However, the ever increasing cost of gas did not affect travel, until this year.
On Thanksgiving of 2001--post 9/11--AAA said travel was down, but it affected the airlines more than the highways. Those that were traveling, travelled by car. Eighty-seven percent of the travelers that Thanksgiving drove. That added up to 30-million travelers who travelled by motor vehicle, that's out of 34-million travelers using planes, trains and automobiles.
By Thanksgiving 2005--post Katrina--AAA said more than 37 million people travelled more than 50 miles from home.
Then by Thanksgiving 2007, despite the rise in price, AAA saw a record 38.7 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more over the holiday weekend. That was a 1.6 percent increase over the previous year.
This Memorial Day weekend AAA expected 37.9 million Americans to travel more than 50 miles from home. The first decrease in travel since 9/11. However, AAA spokesperson Bevi Powell doesn’t think $4 gas will stop people from travelling this summer. We will all be getting economic stimulus checks from the federal government and many will spend their IRS refund checks on vacations. However, the destinations may change. Norris anticipates more Americans will opt for shorter trips closer to home.
So, as Loretta Lynn said, “We’ve come a long way baby.” From $1.11 a gallon just seven years ago to $4.04 today with no end in sight.
Here is a date-by-date breakdown of the history of gas prices in West Virginia. Numbers are based on the AAA fuel gauge and are for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.
Thanksgiving 1999--$1.33
11/21/2000--$1.57
6/12/2001--$1.64
6/27/2001--$1.54
8/23/2001--$1.40
12/19/2001--$1.11
3/27/2002--$1.32
7/10/2002--$1.35
10/2/2002--$1.43
1/2/2003--$1.47
5/29/2003--$1.42
9/9/2003--$1.69
4/14/2004--$1.74
5/5/2004--$1.84
6/9/2004--$1.96
10/20/2004--$2.04
12/15/2004--$1.81
4/6/2005--$2.29
5/11/2005--$2.11
6/8/2005--$2.09
8/10/2005--$2.36
9/1/2005 (post-Katrina) $3.09
12/14/2005--$2.24
3/8/2006--$2.31
6/29/2006--$2.79
1/15/2007--$2.21
4/23/2007--$2.57
6/27/2007--$2.98
11/20/2007--$3.15
2/11/2008--$3.06
3/14/2008--$3.37
4/23/2008--$3.61
5/24/2008--$4.04
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Re: Price of Gas
Originally Posted by InfernoRedXfire
Keep the xfire for fun times and buy a moped, scooter or bike for travel to work.
It really makes me mad how the gas prices have gone up so much and there's nothing we can do about it.
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Re: Price of Gas
Originally Posted by mrobinso
this isn't a gas crisis, this is a new age.
The next year is going to be interesting (and scary)...
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Re: Price of Gas
Now this might be because I'm young and right now most of my income is "disposable" but I actually don't even pay attention the price of gas. Even while I'm at the station you could ask me what it was and I wouldn't know. That in fact could be the reason I don't have the money I would like to available for mods. I just made myself sad.
I just made myself sad.
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Re: Price of Gas
Originally Posted by SRT-6'er
We have screwed ourselves with buying big vehicles, moving far out so we have long commutes and not developing good public transportation.
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Re: Price of Gas
There's a decent amount of oil here in the states from what I've heard, but no one is drilling it because there is no need to. When the reserves dry up in the Middle East who's going to supply it? Well, we are. If we starting pumping our own oil today it'll drop the price of gas, therefore not making us that much money. If we wait until the breaking point and become a major oil exporter, well, let's just say all that debt we have will be gone since oil prices will be through the roof.
Big Oil is playing a game with us to see how high we can go until we can't survive anymore and then we'll be happy enough to pay $3 a gallon when we've all been exposed to $5+ a gallon, still giving them massive profits.
Another way we could really help curb oil prices is to find an alternative way of making goods that use petroleum. We use millions of barrels a day just to make plastics and other goods that also drive the price of oil up. If politicians could get their head out of their *** and unban hemp for industrial use we could easily curb oil usage and it re-grows!!
http://www.recipenet.org/health/arti...hemp_chart.htm
Big Oil is playing a game with us to see how high we can go until we can't survive anymore and then we'll be happy enough to pay $3 a gallon when we've all been exposed to $5+ a gallon, still giving them massive profits.
Another way we could really help curb oil prices is to find an alternative way of making goods that use petroleum. We use millions of barrels a day just to make plastics and other goods that also drive the price of oil up. If politicians could get their head out of their *** and unban hemp for industrial use we could easily curb oil usage and it re-grows!!
http://www.recipenet.org/health/arti...hemp_chart.htm
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Re: Price of Gas
An annoying patern I have noticed is during the summer months each year they raise the prices because it is summer time and more poeple travel but in the fall and winter it NEVER goes down and they repeat this every year, Including this one. This all seems like a game to me considering all experts say the market has plenty of oil in reserves to keep the world spining and enough coming out of refiners to match. This isn't about supply and demand its just plain bullying the ultra eliete get richer and the rest of the world suffers.
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Re: Price of Gas
As long as the political environment in this country caters to big business we will all suffer. Oil companies are doing nothing to aleviate the problem. Most oil companies are not investing their vast fortunes in finding new oil supplies or alternatives, they are buying back stock and paying higher dividends. Who does this help? The ones that put the administration in place to begin with. So I would say we need to look into nuclear energy as an alternative and drive less. I will always drive my crossfire but I would probably look into some cheap car for daya to day driving.
Re: Price of Gas
Originally Posted by InfernoRedXfire
And, the environmentalist putting big limits on drilling within the states. The cheap, easy to get to oil is gone. Big Oil now has to go into hostile countries to drill for oil. I'm not siding with Big Oil, but I can understand that they need to make big profits to go after more difficult to get to oil.
errr.... no. i am curently contracted out as a consultant to an oil drilling company. there are countless numbers of locations being drilling by any/all drilling companies. the EPA has not limited the amount of drilling done in the US as much as they have the amount of refining allowed in the US. It's all about pollution credits...blah blah blah...off topic. There is more than enough oil in the US.
Fun Fact: A significant majority of all gasoline pumped into US automobiles is imported into the US as gasoline NOT crude oil.
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Re: Price of Gas
Originally Posted by GatorLCA
There's a decent amount of oil here in the states from what I've heard, but no one is drilling it because there is no need to. When the reserves dry up in the Middle East who's going to supply it? Well, we are. If we starting pumping our own oil today it'll drop the price of gas, therefore not making us that much money. If we wait until the breaking point and become a major oil exporter, well, let's just say all that debt we have will be gone since oil prices will be through the roof.
Big Oil is playing a game with us to see how high we can go until we can't survive anymore and then we'll be happy enough to pay $3 a gallon when we've all been exposed to $5+ a gallon, still giving them massive profits.
Another way we could really help curb oil prices is to find an alternative way of making goods that use petroleum. We use millions of barrels a day just to make plastics and other goods that also drive the price of oil up. If politicians could get their head out of their *** and unban hemp for industrial use we could easily curb oil usage and it re-grows!!
http://www.recipenet.org/health/arti...hemp_chart.htm
Big Oil is playing a game with us to see how high we can go until we can't survive anymore and then we'll be happy enough to pay $3 a gallon when we've all been exposed to $5+ a gallon, still giving them massive profits.
Another way we could really help curb oil prices is to find an alternative way of making goods that use petroleum. We use millions of barrels a day just to make plastics and other goods that also drive the price of oil up. If politicians could get their head out of their *** and unban hemp for industrial use we could easily curb oil usage and it re-grows!!
http://www.recipenet.org/health/arti...hemp_chart.htm
Might as well unban it, but it would take years before it would make any real difference.