gasoline prices

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Major BumP******


So, Refineries have been closed down in Texas due to the arrival of Hurricane Ike. Gas (atleast here in S.C.) is predicted to go up by a dollar over night. I just drove down the road and there are lines out of the gas station, EVERY gas station, that are blocking traffic like crazy...

Sad thing is, people going to fill up their tanks cuts of the supply, and simple supply and demand charts show, the price will rise with the less gas we have on supply!!!




The following is a statement from AAA.

Gasoline prices in the wholesale market spiked this afternoon as Hurricane Ike headed across the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas and its refineries. Some gasoline stations in the Carolinas have begun limiting the amount of a gasoline purchase and raising their pump prices.

"Hurricane Ike is projected to hit landfall in Texas Friday or Saturday and in anticipation of its storm path, refineries in the Gulf of Mexico have closed," said David E. Parsons, CEO and President of AAA Carolinas.

"Gas prices have gone up and some stations have placed a restriction on the number of gallons customers can buy because it is unclear right now how long the refineries will remain closed or if they will sustain any damage," he said.

"The worst thing that could happen would be for motorists to flock to gas stations to top off their tanks," said Parsons. "That will worsen the situation before anyone knows what the damage will be. We encourage people not to panic, drive conservatively and don't take unnecessary trips until the damage assessment is completed early next week."

This gas spike comes on the heels of the closing of some refineries in the past few days based on the expected path of Hurricane Gustav, said Parsons, and Gustav did not cause any major damage and the refineries reopened and put more oil into the pipeline. Parsons said most refineries made significant changes to their oil rigs after Hurricane Katrina three years ago and these upgrades are designed to protect against hurricanes. Flooding and a loss of electricity are the biggest fears.

An affiliate of the American Automobile Association, AAA Carolinas is a not-for-profit organization that serves more than 1.7 million members with travel, automobile and insurance services while being an advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.

[texas*princess]

Recently the prices for regular unleaded have been around $3.30 which is down from $4+ that we've seen about a month ago.

Over the last couple of days I've seen it go a little bit up to $3.50ish... I'm guessing b/c of the Hurricane.

$4.17 this morning. That's the lowest I've seen in MONTHS.

[Boodleboy322]

Anyone out there:

In your opinion, are the oil companies gauging the consumer by thickening margin or are they hedging on the decline of supply in the market? When oil was at its highs at $147 a barrel, gas was about $4.00 a gallon. Based on the conversions you can assume that gas should be about $2.61 (today's quote is about $96.00 a barrel of crude) a gallon. Do you think that spreads are wacked?


Here’s how I figured the number

X * CURRENT_BARREL_PRICE = CURRENT_GAS_PRICE

Where X = HIGH_GAS_PRICE / HIGH_BARREL_PRICE

Originally Posted by texas*princess

Recently the prices for regular unleaded have been around $3.30 which is down from $4+ that we've seen about a month ago.

Over the last couple of days I've seen it go a little bit up to $3.50ish... I'm guessing b/c of the Hurricane.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by Boodleboy322

Anyone out there:

In your opinion, are the oil companies gauging the consumer by thickening margin or are they hedging on the decline of supply in the market? When oil was at its highs at $147 a barrel, gas was about $4.00 a gallon. Based on the conversions you can assume that gas should be about $2.61 (today's quote is about $96.00 a barrel of crude) a gallon. Do you think that spreads are wacked?


Here’s how I figured the number

X * CURRENT_BARREL_PRICE = CURRENT_GAS_PRICE

Where X = HIGH_GAS_PRICE / HIGH_BARREL_PRICE

My dad was saying the same thing the other day. He doesn't understand why gas prices aren't going down when the prices of a barrel of crude oil has gone down a good deal.

All I can figure is that maybe they are trying to keep gas prices stable (instead of lowering & raising based on the price of crude oil) until they can get a stable price for a barrel of crude oil.

[Boodleboy322]

There’s typically a two to three week lag between the oil refinery’s price to the fuel company. The fuel company buys the barrel at market price from the refinery and sets their spreads accordingly. In other words, what you are paying for at the gas station today reflects the price of crude oil from about 2-3 weeks ago (purchased oil at market price). It generally takes 2-3 weeks for a gas station to empty their deposits and order more fuel. The new fuel shipment will reflect the new buy price at whatever the market price was when the respective barrel was purchased. However, based on that logic, if we look at today’s quote at appx. $96.00 a barrel it would mean that gas should be below $3.00 around the end of the month into the beginning of October. Specifically, about $2.648 using the spreads during the all time high. In my opinion, the consumer is getting gouged.

Thanks for your Reply Epchick!


[QUOTE=epchick;1718074]My dad was saying the same thing the other day. He doesn't understand why gas prices aren't going down when the prices of a barrel of crude oil has gone down a good deal.

QUOTE]

[a.e.B.O.T.]

oh, we never had a decline, just a hault in decline, we were the lowest in the country, but now we are in the middle.

[ISUKappa]

Diesel just went under $4 this past week for the first time in probably a year.

Of course, we just sold the diesel to buy a bigger car for kid #2.

[FirstAndFinest]

That's odd.... I was going to post that this morning I saw an all-time LOW: 3.23 on Morris Ave (82) in Union. (this station has the lowest prices in the area) I was so freakin late for an 8AM meeting that I did not fill up. Had to get gas on the way home from work @ 3.62 bc was right off I-78 in like Warren. I just bought $10, figuring I'd fill up at 3.23 in the morning... Wonder what price I'll see on the way in to work tomorrow!

[MTSUGURL]

The gas station here just told me that they're going up to around 5 tonight at midnight.

[christiangirl]

Back into the $3.50's. *sigh* $3.19 was fun while it lasted....

[AGDee]

The lowest I ended up buying at was around $3.60.

[WVU alpha phi]

Supposed to be jumping to $4.50 a gallon today in Charlotte. I got gas Wednesday for $3.62, an hour ago it was $3.99 and cars were backing up main roads and exits waiting in line for gas.

[AGDee]

I swear I heard them say on the radio this morning that it could be $6.00 next week.

[lawgal]

$7.19 in Michigan this afternoon at one station Other stations are at $6.00+ Speedway still had it at $4.19 and sold out. Last week it dropped below $4.00 for the first time for us this summer ($3.95)