gas prices

[Thad Van Gilder]

I was just curious. Right now, I am paying about $1.70 a gallon for regular, 87 octane gas. what is everyone paying elsewhere in the world? Is that still really cheap, all things considered?

-Thad

[The Gentleman Sawyer]

In SE Tennessee, $1.56 for 87 octane at the Wal Mart gas station.
The Gentleman Sawyer

[jlapratt]

$5.31 a gallon (.779 GBP/liter) :eek: here in London. OUCH!!!!!!

I paid $1.57/gallon last week in Florida. Can get a good days playing about on 6 gallons of gas with the Honda 4 stroke.

Jeff

[Wild Wassa]

About $2.90US a gal, for premium unleaded.

[George Roberts]

Current price of gas here is $1.60 (was 1.50 yesterday).

20,000 miles/year and 25 miles/gallon = 800 gallons ($1280)

Paid $20,000 for the car, will keep it for 5 years - so $4000/year for the car.

$1280/year good gas looks cheap relative to the initial investment.

I vote for $6/gallon.

[gary porter]

$1.66 here in Fairbanks at the Fred Meyer store. Thats with a three cent discount so I guess $1.69 gal. Thats the low octane stuff. regular unleaded.
Personally I think it doesn't really matter, we'll pay the price no matter what, we just won't feel good about it and thats why the price can and will go up.

Gary

[Nicholas Carey]

US$ 1.75–2.00 per gallon here in the PNW.

[mmd]

About USD$2.35 per US gallon here in my part of Nova Scotia.

[nedL]

About $1.72/ US gal. for 87 octane at the "Cumberland Farms" today in N.E. CT.

[lagspiller]

Don't complain.
We pay 5.19 USD pr US gallon today at the corner gas staton...and we are the second or third largest oil exporting country in the world - larger than usa.

The worst part is that I don't believe our prices are especially high compared with most of the world. Especially if our average wage index is taken into consideration.

Despite what you think, the US is in a class by itself when it comes to cheap gas.

[Figment]

... but don't try telling that truth to the masses.

I was at the boat club's membership meeting last week when it was announced that our gas dock's price would likely hit $3/gallon this summer. The room was in uproar for about 15 minutes. (More than one buffoon yelled "What the hell did we just fight a war for?").

As I sat there listening to all of this, it occurred to me that the reaction would've been the same if the news had been a $0.25 increase. We americans seem to regard cheap gas as a birthright of sorts, and are actually PERSONALLY offended by the notion of higher fuel costs.

I can't explain it, but it's there.

I think George is onto something. $6/gallon would require a HUGE adjustment of mindset, and I'm not so sure that it would be a bad thing in the end.

[ 03-16-2004, 05:07 PM: Message edited by: Figment ]

[Gerald]

Around 2.80 US$ per gallon.
Edited to add: I pay a brick layer around 1.00 US$ per hour.
Gerald

[ 03-16-2004, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: Gerald ]

[Paul Pless]

$1.51 dollar per gallon of Diesel Fuel #2.

[Thad Van Gilder]

Wow!!!!!! I had no idea the US's gas rates were that out of whack with the rest of the world!!!!!

-Thad

[NormMessinger]

I'm really sorry about the high gas prices in the US guys. I know if I weren't planning a 3200 mile trip at 10MPG come summer the prices would have stayed low.

One does not know from day to day here'bouts whether the price will be around 1.56 per gal or close to 1.70. Wild swings.

[abe]

The price in northern Massachusetts ranges from 1.56 to 1.77 for 87 octane. New York last weekend on the Thruway was $2.00. We are fortunate in the US. At this price it is a gift.

Concern for the unemployed/single moms/retired on fixed incomes who pay the current $1.59 a gallon for home heating oil. Started at $1.14 in October...

New Hampshire Prices Here (http://www.newhampshiregasprices.com/)

abe

[ 03-17-2004, 10:03 AM: Message edited by: abe ]

[Nicholas Carey]

Originally posted by Thad Van Gilder:
Wow!!!!!! I had no idea the US's gas rates were that out of whack with the rest of the world!!!!!Most of the rest of the world has very high taxes on gasoline and diesel. Fuel taxes in Europe run about US$ 2.50 or more per gallon and, in addition, fuel is subject to the usual 15-20% VAT.

In the US, fuel taxes run in the neighborhood of US$ 0.39 per gallon and it's not usually subject to sales tax.

Hence, the high prices elsewhere in the world.

These kinds of high fuel taxes accomplish a lot of different things:

1. Keeps the roads in nice condition and driveable.

3. Promotes energy efficiency. There's a reason you can buy a car in Europe that gets 50-60mpg.

4. Helps keep the environment clean.

5. Encourages denser, more human-friendly development and promotes the use of mass transit, in conjunction with the high tolls required to use the freeways.

In France, for instance, the tolls required to drive the autoroute Paris–Bordeaux (a distance of some 560km (350 miles) are about EU 45 (US$ 55). That's about about EU 0.09/km (US$ 0.16/mile).

And the fuel costs, for a midsize sedan getting 6.7L/100km (36mpg) will run about EU 41 (US$ 51).

So a 350-mile jaunt on the freeway will cost you more than $100 in fuel and tolls.

[Meerkat]

Oil hit $38/barrel today. That may have an impact in addition to the gov'ts mention that gas was due to go up around April first in reaction to the next OPEC supply cut.

If you can get to them, there ought to be some juicy vacation bargins this summer. Gas supplies are so tight already that the refineries have not been able to start stockpiling gas for the summer demand. Sounds like long lines and outages.

[G. Schollmeier]

All gas prices all the time.

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

Gary :D

[WWheeler]

Gas prices here hitting $.75 (CDN) /liter. Despite the whining, I still don't see much change in behaviour ie. car pooling, smaller vehicles etc. I'm driving a Honda that's getting 50mpg, but I'm still spending around $60-90 week in gas. That's not so bad, but when I think about having to replace the car, it's all starting to seem ridiculous ie.

gas - $400/month
car pmt $500/month
insurance $100/month

== $1000/month

It's enough to make one think about living on a boat or otherwise dropping out.

[Alan D. Hyde]

Indianapolis $1.43 (for 87) yesterday.

$1.81 today.

Such swings are now commonplace, the result, I am told, of many varying EPA gasoline formulations for different parts of the country.

Indianapolis formulations, so I am told, come only from two refineries.

But this is all second-hand and hearsay, and not anything I can attribute to an authoritative source.

Alan

[Ron Williamson]

Today,I heard on the radio that the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve could be responsible for about $8/per barrel of oil.
R

[Keith Wilson]

It's down a little here to about $1.67/gallon. It fluctuates 15-20 cents/gallon every week or so for no good reason I can tell; I'm getting pretty good at anticipating the jumps and buying low.

Gas is still considerably cheaper in inflation-adjusted dollars than it was 25 years ago.

[jlapratt]

What's interesting is a comparison of the stability of prices. As others have said, gasoline prices fluctuate considerably and often in the US. In the London area, gasoline has essentially been the same for the last 20 months I've been coming over here. I think there are two reasons for this. First, taxes form about 70% of the price and second, there is greater social pressure on the oil companies to not take advantage of the situation. In the US, we have allowed the oil companies free reign to adjust prices to their benefit at their whim. We have done this because gasoline is relatively inexpensive and we allow the free market to trump any type of social conciousness and responsibility. Not that this is bad (big debate coming here) just the way it is.

Jeff

[doorstop]

At our local service station the current price of Diesel, which is the fuel I use, is 99.9 cents per litre.... I don't know what that computes to with you American blokes....

[Donn]

That would be equivalent to $(US)2.82/gallon.

[On Vacation]

Paid from 1.58 to 1.67 regular a gallon on gas all week across the state. How much does a gallon of bottle water costs when we are buying it in those small serving size we buy at the local convenient stores? The same ones are whining about the rise in fuel prices at the same station.

[ 03-19-2004, 01:36 PM: Message edited by: Oyster ]

[Meerkat]

How many MPG does your car get on water Oyster? ;)

[Andy Bangs]

$3.50/gallon in Man O' War Cay. Amazing how quickly I can run through $200 downt there!

[On Vacation]

Originally posted by Meerkat:
How many MPG does your car get on water Oyster? ;) It got me enough to take my wife to dinner tonight, and in turn will get me a lot more mileage this weekend, too. tongue.gif

[Bruce Hooke]

I worked for a little while for a gas and oil wholesaler and thus got an inside view of at least one part of this industry. The place I worked for bought oil from terminals (tank farms) throughout the Northestern US and sold to independant gas stations, home heating oil companies and similar businesses.

I was impressed by just how much of a free market this whole thing was. IIRC the prices we paid were largely tied to the spot market in NYC. The prices we charged were set by individual salesmen and were specific to each customer (based on the salesmen's judgement of what he could charge that customer and still hope to get their business). The prices we paid and charged changed daily (which lead to a massive data crunching project -- my area -- as we matched up sales against buyers and salesmen to track our financials and pay the salement their commissions).

So, after seeing how this all worked I am quick to reject any suggestions of a hidden conspiracy to control gas prices, whether you are talking about ExxonMobil and the other producers, or the local gas station, or anywhere inbetween! Do note that I say hidden -- OPEC is NOT hidden and is clearly pretty effective at controling prices by controlling supply, but that's a different matter.

[Jeff Carson]

I believe that the different tax rates accounted for a portion of the disparity in gas prices between the US and the rest of the world, but not all. As I understand it (and I could be wrong) our government subsidises a significant portion of the production costs, and offers huge tax breaks to oil producing corporations, in order to keep US gas prices low. Is this correct??

Seems that if these policies changed (which they may have too, no matter what your political bent), it would have a huge impact on life as we know it in the US.

Go do a little library research time on "Peak Oil Production", it makes for some interesting reading. Makes me glad that Biodiesel in now available in Seattle!!

Jeff