Gasoline prices have been cheap for a LONNNNNNG time

Cheap gas prices are totally counterproductive. 

I was happy when OPEC responded to the surge of new US production coming from my backyard by flooding the market and tanking prices so that new drilling stopped. 

I'll probably live to see the day that current-day energy policy is spoken of regretfully in all corners, not just the lonely one I inhabit. If things REALLY go poorly, those of you that remember 0.29/gal gas will too. 

It will be grim irony if things go so badly that the boomer generation is actually still around to see that biggest of chickens come home to roost, but i don't wish for that. 

Anywho, the rich will die rich, and those who stand at the ready to complain about 'high' gas prices will NOT have moved up the socioeconomic ladder in their absence, no matter how long. Low gas prices are a false economy.

I think I paid $2.79 for E0 91 octane yesterday in OK.

Granted, that was not my intention, I just forgot that particular station only sells E0 91. 

Not cheap by me, running about $6.16US/gal now. 18th most expensive gas in the world according to this:

http://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/

It hit home pretty hard the other day when I put $10US of gas into a canister and saw about 1.5gal of gas sloshing around the bottom. It doesn't help that every gallon is shipped in pre-refined.

Global energy policy since the industrial revolution will be considered an unmitigated disaster in the future, but what will be considered the worst period is the late 20th and early 21st century, when we had the knowledge that we needed to make huge improvements really fast, the technology to do so, and for a while even the money to do so, but didn't.

Vigo said:

Cheap gas prices are totally counterproductive. 

I was happy when OPEC responded to the surge of new US production coming from my backyard by flooding the market and tanking prices so that new drilling stopped. 

I'll probably live to see the day that current-day energy policy is spoken of regretfully in all corners, not just the lonely one I inhabit. If things REALLY go poorly, those of you that remember 0.29/gal gas will too. 

It will be grim irony if things go so badly that the boomer generation is actually still around to see that biggest of chickens come home to roost, but i don't wish for that. 

Anywho, the rich will die rich, and those who stand at the ready to complain about 'high' gas prices will NOT have moved up the socioeconomic ladder in their absence, no matter how long. Low gas prices are a false economy.

Counter productive to what?

Sure, low gas prices don't entice lots of new drilling rigs to pop up and a few people may be laid off, but everyone, all around the world, uses gasoline/diesel/oil products.  The product will still be produced, in some cases production will increase, so the producers will have to adjust and will continue to make money.

If fuel and oil tripled (or more) in price and stayed there, some of those that were laid off would get back to work, but the vast majority of the world (billions of people) who are not employed by the drilling industry would have less money to spend on everything else...electronics, food, tourism, clothes, investment, beers, buying a new car and on and on.  Also, less fuel and oil would be used.  A much, much larger percentage of the population would be negatively affected.

Pickup trucks are a HUGE cash cow for the big 3...what happens when people stop buying them in masse overnight? Wouldn't take a large increase in fuel prices to cause that. I doubt stock holders will be happy when the stock loses value, retirement plans are worth less, and have to pull back spending in every facet of the economy.  They call that a recession.

Vigo said:

Cheap gas prices are totally counterproductive. 

I was happy when OPEC responded to the surge of new US production coming from my backyard by flooding the market and tanking prices so that new drilling stopped. 

I'll probably live to see the day that current-day energy policy is spoken of regretfully in all corners, not just the lonely one I inhabit. If things REALLY go poorly, those of you that remember 0.29/gal gas will too. 

It will be grim irony if things go so badly that the boomer generation is actually still around to see that biggest of chickens come home to roost, but i don't wish for that. 

Anywho, the rich will die rich, and those who stand at the ready to complain about 'high' gas prices will NOT have moved up the socioeconomic ladder in their absence, no matter how long. Low gas prices are a false economy.

Vigo, you often have interesting thoughts so I'd like to understand what you wrote, but I don't.  Would you please explain?

Whenever I hear people complain gas prices in the US are too high...

(There are approx 3.8 liters in a US Gallon)

onemanarmy said:

Pickup trucks are a HUGE cash cow for the big 3...what happens when people stop buying them in masse overnight? Wouldn't take a large increase in fuel prices to cause that. I doubt stock holders will be happy when the stock loses value, retirement plans are worth less, and have to pull back spending in every facet of the economy.  They call that a recession.

So lets keep gas prices artificially low and kick the can down the road!

In reply to Armitage :

Not sure that it's fair to compare with Europe, given that there is some really Berkeleyed-up thinking going on in many of those governments.

Well, you jinxed us.  Gas jumped $.35/gallon overnight in SW Michigan.

The problem is the massive difference between regular and premium... 87 here is like $2.29 and 91 is $2.65 or more. I don't remember the last time I used 87, all of my BMW's with their high-compression engines require 91 or they retard the timing and I lose horsepower.

dannyzabolotny said:

The problem is the massive difference between regular and premium... 87 here is like $2.29 and 91 is $2.65 or more. I don't remember the last time I used 87, all of my BMW's with their high-compression engines require 91 or they retard the timing and I lose horsepower.

There was some study linked recently on the Mustang S550 that showed in the 15-17 GT Mustang, the difference between 87 and 91 wasn't nearly as great as people think.

I know my 2013 Mustang GT was rated for 420hp on 91-93, and 412 for 87. But then, you don't buy muscle cars because you're worried about the price of gas.

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to Armitage :

Not sure that it's fair to compare with Europe, given that there is some really Berkeleyed-up thinking going on in many of those governments.

Now that's funny right there.

In western NY this morning it was $2.69. Here it's 40 cents more.

Last time I filled up was $2.42 for 93. But $10 worth gets me two weeks so I don't stay to current on what prices are doing.

Regular by me is something like 91 octane by the standard used in the US, and regular is the only grade sold at the pump. Anything better has to be bought in a barrel and costs mad mad money, I think the cheapest 5gal barrel of race gas goes for around $75.

87 octane went from $2.21 to $2.65 yesterday between noon and 3pm yesterday in Flint

0.110 dinar per liter out here.  I think that equates to about $1.37 a gallon

Last time I topped up the tank I was out about $18.00 (including the $3.30 tip I give the guy to pump my gas)

In Hungary, around 2011 I was paying $120 a tank to fill up the Impala

Good times

pilotbraden said:

87 octane went from $2.21 to $2.65 yesterday between noon and 3pm yesterday in Flint

 

There is a non trivial cold air mass that's supposed to be engulfing nearly the whole of North America in the next little while and it's going to hang out for a bit. The natural gas/heating oil traders are all excited about it as an event that we haven't seen since the cold snaps of the late 70's/early 80's. 

We're almost certainly going to be in an oversupply situation for the next decade at least just due to current drilling/completion technology. There is a LOT of gas/oil that is known and sitting just due to economics. We're in an excellent position to wean ourselves off fossil fuels without significant economic disturbance. It's just a matter of political will. 

If you're in the Midwest/Great Lakes region, this probably has more to do with the recent price spike than anything else.

Suprf1y said:

SkinnyG said:

RoddyMac17 said:

Here in Vancouver it hovers around $1.34 per litre, some days when they really want to hurt you it goes over $1.44/L.  It went up when oil prices went up, but when the price of oil came back down, gas prices stayed up.  

That's $5+ per gallon, to put it into 'murican perspective.

Actually about $3.80, roughly double.

What it was in the 80's (US price being double that of where we are in Ontario)

A little more than a buck a liter here. Last time we were in western NY, a few months ago, it was a wash.

$1.34 * 3.78 = $5.06

But if you're a buck a liter there, that's decent. Despite us being right close to Alberta, and having our own refineries in the province, gas prices defy logic.

I'm currently overseas in the middle east and gas is approx.  6 NIS per liter.  it's also "95" octane.  Back home it's considerably cheaper but as has been previously posted the difference between regular and midgrade and premium (Chicago has all 3) has gotten ridiculous. I'm thankful the minivan runs on e85 which is about $1.89 or less typically on my way to "work".

In reply to SkinnyG :

You know that apples to apples thing and how the prices per gallon are being quoted by Americans in, you know, that American currency? So $5.06 Canadian becomes $3.97 in U.S. dollars  at todays rate. Now, if your gas is actually $1.70 Canadian/L then I have it all wrong.

Gas prices don't defy logic at all. It's priced like almost everything else, by what the market will bear.

Consumers, they defy logic.

EDIT: Just filled up. 99.9/L or $2.95(US)/Gallon so it's not that far off.

STM317 said:

If you're in the Midwest/Great Lakes region, this probably has more to do with the recent price spike than anything else.

That may be the excuse, but it's probably not the reason.  They always jump prices around here before major travel holidays.  Back in the day, there used to be a Walmart gas station which, per the clerk I talked to, had to get permission from corporate before raising the prices.  You  could always tell the "artificial" price increases because the Walmart station would take a couple hours to catch up unless there was an actual increase in wholesale fuel prices.  You'd have about a 2 hour window where you could fill up at the "old price" until corporate approved the price raise/gouge.  The funny thing is, in that 2 hours, there would be huge lines at the Walmart station and all the surrounding stations would be empty.  Then the surrounding stations would have to drop their prices to get customers.  Then the Walmart price would go up and the other stations would go back up to the "new price".  It was some of the most blatant price-fixing I've ever seen.  Sadly, Walmart decided it could make more money selling/leasing that corner of their lot to a couple of restaurants and we lost that little check on BS price increases. 

Suprf1y said:

In reply to SkinnyG :

You know that apples to apples thing and how the prices per gallon are being quoted by Americans in, you know, that American currency? So $5.06 Canadian becomes $3.97 in U.S. dollars  at todays rate.

Oh for the love of mercy, you're right.  And I even calculated exchange in trying to keep the Firefly under US budget. 

I'll just shut up now.