Gasoline: How low will it go?

[slingshot]

$3.51/gallon this morning near my house (Tennessee).  Almost a month after the hurricane and there are still supply issues with Colonial and Plantation pipelines.  Getting a bit tired of this.  Earlier in the week, half the stations didn't even have any gas.

[Nick1911]

$2.78 for 100% gas in Kansas City, MO

[Jamisjockey]

$ 3.20 in PA.  Will we all go out and buy fuel guzzlers?

I bought my boat when gas was $4 a gallon.....3.20 a gallon will seem like a deal..... 

[K Frame]

Still over $3 a gallon at most stations around here, but creeping ever lower.

Should be below $3 in general in a week or so.

I'm having dinner with Mtnbkr and family this evening, and it's below $3 a gallon at a couple of stations near them.

[Jamisjockey]

I'm having dinner with Mtnbkr and family this evening, and it's below $3 a gallon at a couple of stations near them.

Keep your eyes open.....Abby's got backup these days.....

[K Frame]

It's a CARTOON, MicroBalrog, and it accurately portrays the limited American memory on this like this.

Laugh at it.

[K Frame]

Keep your eyes open.....Abby's got backup these days.....

Fortunately Emily's not quite coordinated enough yet to make a good ambush partner for Abby...


Where's Cox Farm? Produce type farm? Apples?

[zahc]

$2.90 at Coit and the Bush in Planoish TX.

[Regolith]

Fortunately Emily's not quite coordinated enough yet to make a good ambush partner for Abby...

She can still make a good distraction, though. 

[ramis]

$3.06 in the Lexington, Ky area.

Is a gas actually getting cheaper or is the the dollar just getting stronger?

[RocketMan]

$3.25 to $3.45ish in the Mid-Willamette Valley, OR.  Goes down a few pennies about twice a week.

[Mabs2]

Just under $4 here in my little ol' town.
Cheaper in the nearby bigger cities by about 20-30 cents usually.

[Tallpine]

Is a gas actually getting cheaper or is the the dollar just getting stronger?

It depends ... is the glass half-full or half-empty ?   



I'm actually thinking of trading off the '91 Suburban for a slightly newer extended cab pickup, regardless of gas prices either way.  We need at least one full-size 4wd out here in the boonies, and a pickup would be much more useful now that the kids have moved out.  My old 2wd pickup is great in the summer, when it isn't raining or when I need to get up on a steep hill to get firewood.  Likewise, the car sits in the garage when it is muddy or snowy.  It's really only useful for long trips or for making a "quick" trip to town for doctor/dental appointments.

Last week we hauled 850 pounds of roofing material (along with the usual groceries and stuff) back from town in the old Suburban.  You can't do that with a little car.  I suppose people see one or two of us in the Suburban and think that is bad, but don't see that it is level full up to the bottom of the windows from the two bucket seats all the way back to the panel doors  :rolleyes:

[Don't care]

$2.63/gallon in Franklin, Indiana.

Franklin is approximately a half-hour South of Indianapolis.

[Hawkmoon]

I spotted $2.97 for regular this evening. It had been as high as $4.39 just a couple of months ago.

If this doesn't convince everybody that gasoline prices are being artificially manipulated, nothing will. It's the same crude oil coming out of the same oil wells and being sent on the same ships to the same refineries. It still costs pretty much the same to pump it, pipe it, ship it, cook it, and distribute it. So how can the basic rules of supply and demand explain how the price gradually ramped up by about 33 percent over a period of about six or eight months, and has since dropped by 33 percent over a period of about two months (or less)?

[Lennyjoe]

$3.06 at Costco in Winchester, VA.  $3.19 in Martinsburg, WV and $3.15 up in Gettysburg, PA. 

Seen E85 for $2.85 up by Gettysburg too.  My F-150 is flex fuel so I could use it if I want to.  But, whats the sense in saving a couple of bucks using E85 when I'm loosing gas mileage with that stuff anyway?

[Fjolnirsson]

Enjoy it while you can, guys. I just read that OPEC's going to emergency talks ....

Here you go...http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081009/D93N6TR80.html

OPEC to hold emergency meeting on oil prices
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Oct 9, 4:48 PM (ET)

By STEVENSON JACOBS
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NEW YORK (AP) - OPEC said Thursday it will hold an extraordinary meeting Nov. 18 to discuss how the widening global financial crisis is affecting oil prices, a move that could lead to a coordinated production cut in a bid to halt crude's steep losses.
In a statement published on its Web site, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it's concerned about how the crisis is hampering global economies and world oil markets. The meeting will be held in Vienna, Austria.
Oil prices have fallen about 40 percent since soaring to a record $147.27 on July 11 as a global financial downturn forces people and businesses everywhere to cut back on energy use.
Analysts have predicted OPEC might use the meeting to announce a production cut in a bid to keep prices from falling further.
OPEC hinted that such a decision may be coming, saying in the statement that it would work "to ensure that oil market fundamentals are kept in balance and market stability is maintained."
Light, sweet crude for November Delivery fell another $1.85 to $86.80 a barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
There is some doubt whether OPEC can actually slow oil's decline. The cartel's decision last month to cut production by 520,000 barrels a day failed to halt the losses, which have accelerated in recent days.
OPEC members in recent days have stepped up calls to tighten production.
On Thursday, the head of Libya's national oil company, Shukri Ghanem, called on oil producing nations Thursday to cut output to "protect their interest (and) stop the loss of income."
"However, OPEC's aim is to create a balanced market, which neither harms the producers nor the importers," Ghanem told The Associated Press.
The decline in crude prices has fanned fears among OPEC members, many of whose economies are heavily dependent on oil exports.
On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said some OPEC members wanted the extraordinary meeting to address oil's downward spiral.
OPEC previously had not planned to meet until Dec. 17 in Algeria.
__
Associated Press writer Khaled El-Deeb contributed to this report from Tripoli, Lybia.

[Gewehr98]

But, whats the sense in saving a couple of bucks using E85 when I'm loosing gas mileage with that stuff anyway?

As an E-85 driver over the last 3 years, I've discovered it depends totally on the price differential between E-85 and gasoline.  Up here, when the price difference between E-85 and gasoline is 40 cents/gallon or more, then it's more economical in a dollars/mile sense to drive on the booze.  Less than 40 cents/gallon difference, then stay with gasoline.  I'm driving a 2.2L Flex-Fuel vehicle though, so YMMV. 

Of course, OPEC can only drive at worst about 15% of the cost of each gallon of E-85, though...

[roo_ster]

If fuel drops low enough to reverse the current hit that big SUV resale has taken, I'll have to re-jigger my calculations and plans.


Sometime after May 2009, the jfruser family will likely pick up a used Ford Excursion with the 7.3L turbodiesel.  The fuel and economic climate have killed the resale on the beasts.  Four door diesel pickups are doing better, resale-wise, due to their greater utility in construction, oil, etc.

My wife will graduate at that time and we will no longer hemorrhaging cash for school, but she will bring in part-time cash.  IOW, it is (somewhat) independent of gas price fluctuations.

Average year 2000 samples are retailing in the $6K range, low-mile cherry examples up to $8K range.  That is retail.

It will replace two of our current three vehicles (1995 Nissan Altima, 110K miles ; 1997 Nissan Ext cab PU, 155K miles ; will kep 2004 Honda Element ).  All three get 20MPG city, using the 10% ethanol crap.  The pickup can not legally transport the kids.  The gas V10 Excursions get ~10MPG and the diesels ~15MPG city, according to owners*.  I will not buy a gasser.

Unlike Tallpine, our kiddos are in-house and growing.  Insuring one less vehicle will come close to making up the 25% fuel economy hit**.  It will also simplify the garage & driveway logistics.

The Excursion will fulfill several functions: pickup truck utility (with a small trailer), people-mover, tow vehicle, & others.

Now, my people-mover  preferences really drift towards the Volkswagen Jetta or Volkswagen Passat diesel wagons.  Or many a BMW 3-series wagon.  Thing is, they want an arm and a leg for them and all the 2009 VW Jetta diesels are already sold.  I can buy a LOT of fuel for the price difference (low=$12,000 ; high=$20,000+).  Enough to run the Excursion for 3-5+ years at 15Kmiles/year and $4/gal fuel.  Not to mention higher insurance rates for newer, pricier rides or having to finance some portion of the vehicle cost.

The other option is a new 4-door full sized 1/2 ton pickup.  They retail for low-mid $30K and have been obtainable for the low $20K at the end of the year.  Their gas engines do aout the same or a little better than the 7.3L diesel.  Diesels will supposedly be available in 1/2 ton PUs in 2010.  I bet there will be few end-of-year 35% discounts on THOSE puppies.

The drop in resale of the big SUVs makes the diesel Excursion one of the better options for us, given our requirements.

One thing I have not taken into account is that I have started riding my bike to work (11-12 mi) on average of twice a week.  Both fuel misers and fuel guzzelers consume the same amount of fuel when parked, according to my math.


* Actual claims for the V10 are "around 15MPG" and for the 7.3 diesel, "around 20MPG."  My "bullshit discount" brings likely reality down to 10 & 15MPG, respectively.  Too many folks exaggerate how quickly they traveled from point A to B and also the milage they get on their vehicles.

** Given $4/gal fuel and the amount we drive (according to the insurance estimate I got form my agent).  Yes, I have plugged it into a spreadsheet. 

[Nitrogen]

I just filled the wife's car up at the Wal-mart in Wylie, TX for 2.95/gal.

[Parker Dean]

I just filled up at $2.44 at the Valero on Wildcat in Portland TX.

Drive to the Corpus southside and its $2.79 at the Valero on the corner of Saratoga and Cimarron while the Exxon across Saratoga is $2.89. Never seen such variations before.

[Jamisjockey]

Fortunately Emily's not quite coordinated enough yet to make a good ambush partner for Abby...


Where's Cox Farm? Produce type farm? Apples?

Its off Braddock road.  Really cheesy corn "maze", hay ride, slides, stuff for the kiddies.  I think they produce some farm stuff, but not sure how much. 

Paid $2.99 a gal today about 2 klicks from the house.  Filled up the ESV and it didn't seem like prison sex for the first time in awhile.

[Manedwolf]

I never thought I would be happy to see gas at $3.17, but it was.

[Perd Hapley]

FWIW, I live right next to Lambert Airport, and there's a gas station within a five-minute's walk of my house, where cars are constantly going to and from the airport.  It's surrounded by hotels, rental car lots, and long-term parking garages.  It is usually about ten cents higher than gas stations just a mile or two further out from the 'port.  The other day, it was 3.32 there, while everywhere else it was 3.17.  I often wish Riley could live here.  That sort of thing would drive him berserk.   

Filled up the ESV and it didn't seem like prison sex for the first time in awhile.

And I think you meant corn "maize." 

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

It was 2.83 at noon, Texarkana, TX. It was 2.75 at 4 PM.
Yep. I filled the tank up with the 2.83 price in effect.