Summer Gas Prices To Heat Up

[AKUDOU]

Gas Prices Expected to Heat Up For Summer
March 8, 2005

FORT COLLINS, CO -- Across the nation, an increase in gasoline prices has consumers sweating about the coming summer driving season, Coloradoan.com reports. NACS Director of Public Affairs Jeff Lenard told the news Web site that a greater demand for gas in developing countries, increasing crude oil prices and the imminent arrival of spring largely caused the jump.

In preparation for the coming summer season, many U.S. cities switch to a seasonal blend of gasoline that helps to reduce smog, but is more expensive to produce.

Lenard also pointed out that diesel prices, typically lower than gasoline prices, have risen because of the 2004 gas shortage. When OPEC reduced its oil production last February for a short time, refineries produced as much gasoline as possible, and diesel fuel production suffered as a result, he said.

“There are concerns about the general political unrest in Venezuela, Nigeria and, of course, the continued instability in the Middle East,” Lenard told Coloradaon.com. “None of these has led to a dramatic drop in production, but the fear of it has kept prices high.”

Lenard said competition between gas stations, different gas brands and fuel taxes cause the discrepancy in gasoline prices. Rising crude oil prices compound retailers’ struggle with shrinking profit margins, causing them to keep gasoline prices competitive with local gas stations.

“Consumers have become more price sensitive about the price of gas then ever before,” Lenard said. “We have seen studies that show close to half of consumers will switch where they buy gas for as little as 3 cents a gallon.”

Last week NACS Daily highlighted recent figures from This Week in Petroleum that show diesel fuel prices jumped 9.8 cents to top $2.11, approximately 50 cents higher than the same time last year. Gasoline prices climbed 2.3 cents to top $1.92, more than 21 cents higher than the same time in 2004.


Crude oil prices have reached about $53 a barrel, and OPEC officials have predicted that the price could climb as much as $80 a barrel in the next two years.

 

[loNfastNSX]

Premium here in Houston is at 2.11 right now. Heard on the radio this afternoon that prices are expexted to jump by .15 cents this week.


Well that just sucks!

 

[ss_md]

Premium here in Houston is at 2.11 right now. Heard on the radio this afternoon that prices are expexted to jump by .15 cents this week.

Well that just sucks!

That's $.34 cheaper than in SoCal. Premium is hovering around $2.45 - $2.65, depending on where you buy gas. Sucks big time!

 

[White92]

Premium here in Houston is at 2.11 right now. Heard on the radio this afternoon that prices are expexted to jump by .15 cents this week.


Well that just sucks!

Same here! Let's find these guys and castrate them!

 

[Briank]

Regular is $2.21 here.

 

[NSXrunner]

Times like this I'm glad the NSX isnt a big V8 or V10. :biggrin:

 

[SNDSOUL]

My question is how come diesel used to be the cheapest gas you could get and now it is the same or more than premium?? Isnt it the cheapest to produce? These prices are killing me! All of my cars either run 93 octane or diesel, both of which cost over $2.10 right now!!

 

[W]

The prices aren't bothering me near as much as all the complaining.

 

[Carguy!]

The prices aren't bothering me near as much as all the complaining.

Me too, I hope less people drive on the roads and I have less traffic.

 

[newby]

Yeah $2 a gallon sucks, but it could be a lot worse. My question is....prices go up because supply is low. However does demand really decrease just because cost is higher. I cannot drive less, so I just pay more for the same amount of gas.
It just doesn't make sense to me......

 

[Carguy!]

Yeah $2 a gallon sucks, but it could be a lot worse. My question is....prices go up because supply is low. However does demand really decrease just because cost is higher. I cannot drive less, so I just pay more for the same amount of gas.
It just doesn't make sense to me......

Of course demand goes down, in the short term you get people who take mass transit, who car pool, take bikes, walk instead of driving. It might not be as convienent but a lot of people will use other options as the price goes higher. Long term people will look for homes or apartments closer to their work or play and buy higher gas mileage cars. They take less vacations or take them closer to home, etc..

Do you think if gas was $10 per gallon that they would sell the same amount they sell today?

 

[newby]

Of course demand goes down, in the short term you get people who take mass transit, who car pool, take bikes, walk instead of driving. It might not be as convienent but a lot of people will use other options as the price goes higher. Long term people will look for homes or apartments closer to their work or play and buy higher gas mileage cars. They take less vacations or take them closer to home, etc..

Do you think if gas was $10 per gallon that they would sell the same amount they sell today?

there's a big difference between an increase of .35 cents a gallon and $7-8 bucks a gallon. Personally the extra $5 to fill my tank isn't going to sway me from doing the same amount of driving (90% of it I don't have a choice). I'm just saying the majority of people do not have another option or they refuse to take the bus or walk. They'll just pay more for gas....which in turn means the demand is about the same, however cost is up because they claim supply is low. I have yet to see a station put up a sign "Sorry, we ran out of gas".

 

[Carguy!]

there's a big difference between an increase of .35 cents a gallon and $7-8 bucks a gallon. Personally the extra $5 to fill my tank isn't going to sway me from doing the same amount of driving (90% of it I don't have a choice). I'm just saying the majority of people do not have another option or they refuse to take the bus or walk. They'll just pay more for gas....which in turn means the demand is about the same, however cost is up because they claim supply is low. I have yet to see a station put up a sign "Sorry, we ran out of gas".

I agree there is a big difference between .35 cents and $7-$8 dollars a gallon, supply and demand works on a curve as the price increases the demand decreases. I was giving you an extreme example to ask you if you truly thought that demand wasn't related to price. For the U.S. to get enough fuel it needs to buy oil at whatever OPEC sets its prices at, if the price goes too high people will start using less. Another example of the supply and demand curve would be people who are using oil to heat their houses, people switched to natural gas, propane, solar and various other forms of heat or simply didn't keep their houses as warm as usual. If the price of oil was lowered significantly than more people would use it to heat their house run generators, etc...

The problem is the demand is increasing because more and more people are using fuel not just in the U.S. but worldwide. This will cause the price to keep rising.

Also just because you have never seen a sign at a gas station that said
"Out of gas" doesn't mean others haven't. I sure have and I am sure it will happen again.

 

[Carguy!]

My question is how come diesel used to be the cheapest gas you could get and now it is the same or more than premium?? Isnt it the cheapest to produce? These prices are killing me! All of my cars either run 93 octane or diesel, both of which cost over $2.10 right now!!

The price for diesel is something that I don't understand either, I have vehicles that use diesel also and it kills me to pay more than premium for diesel with no explanation as to why.

 

[Yellow Rose]

Not Again

Same here! Let's find these guys and castrate them!

And just who is it that you want to castrate? Jesus-H-Christ, people, don't you understand the laws of supply and demand?

Mother Nature has only a finite supply of oil in her belly. It is this oil that is converted into our gasoline. So for white92 to say that we should castrate someone, he would have a very difficult time castrating a female.

Don't like gasoline prices? Go buy a hybrid. Sheesh.

On top of that, the person that initiated this thread – AKUDOU – is a Shell jobber. Why on earth would you want to begin this type of thread, that gets everyone worked up? Leave a sleeping dog lie. Newsflash – regardless of the world’s political situation, gasoline prices have always gone up as Summer approaches, so what really is the issue?

 

[White92]

Re: Not Again

Andy, I was just kidding. Obviously I don't plan on castrating anyone. Money comes and it goes. Gas going up 5 or 10 cents a gallon is not going to break anyone. I spent more than the difference of my last tank of gas and the one before that at McDonald's today. :biggrin:

And just who is it that you want to castrate? Jesus-H-Christ, people, don't you understand the laws of supply and demand?

Mother Nature has only a finite supply of oil in her belly. It is this oil that is converted into our gasoline. So for white92 to say that we should castrate someone, he would have a very difficult time castrating a female.

Don't like gasoline prices? Go buy a hybrid. Sheesh.

On top of that, the person that initiated this thread – AKUDOU – is a Shell jobber. Why on earth would you want to begin this type of thread, that gets everyone worked up? Leave a sleeping dog lie. Newsflash – regardless of the world’s political situation, gasoline prices have always gone up as Summer approaches, so what really is the issue?

 

[dawggpie]

from what i understand, prices haven't gone up because of an actual shortage in supply. They're going up based on speculation that there could be a shortage. People expect there to be shortages because of turmoil in the middle east, problems in Venezuela, etc therefore prices get raised. I dunno how much truth there is to this arguement, but the fact that the US oil reserve is seeing no shortage makes u wonder.

I agree that a short term hike in prices shouldn't really effect demand. People won't change their houses from oil to other forms of heat over night, they don't stop using their car (that they're paying for already), they won't switch to hybrid cars. Those are all long terms effects. Only think i can see is that people will take less road trips. I think we're just getting worked by OPEC and gas stations making a buck off our fears and speculation

 

[LJSB]

$2.29 for Premium here in Poughkeepsie.

 

[SNDSOUL]

So can anyone explain the hike in diesel? Why is it the cheapest fuel to make, but the most expensive to buy?

 

[NSXnBRLA]

So can anyone explain the hike in diesel? Why is it the cheapest fuel to make, but the most expensive to buy?

Tell me about it :frown:

 

[Yellow Rose]

So can anyone explain the hike in diesel? Why is it the cheapest fuel to make, but the most expensive to buy?

Supply and demand........what are there more of on the road - gasoline engines or diesel engines? I don't care if it cost one penny to make a part or one dollar to make a part.....if the bottom feeders are few and far between, do you think the same commodity pricing will prevail?

 

[nsxot1c]

if you think about it, diesel vehicles are becoming MUCH more common nowadays... especially with the truck wars ie chevy duramax, dodge cummings, and ford powerstroke. I know here in our area you can't go anywhere without seeing a turbo diesel truck. Not to mention tractor trailers...
Interesting how diesel prices have now caught up... makes sense since more and more diesel vehicles are out there.
Gas prices are getting ridiculous again, filled my nsx today and paid 2.36 a gallon here in poughkeepsie....

 

[AKUDOU]

Re: Not Again

And just who is it that you want to castrate? Jesus-H-Christ, people, don't you understand the laws of supply and demand?

Mother Nature has only a finite supply of oil in her belly. It is this oil that is converted into our gasoline. So for white92 to say that we should castrate someone, he would have a very difficult time castrating a female.

Don't like gasoline prices? Go buy a hybrid. Sheesh.

On top of that, the person that initiated this thread – AKUDOU – is a Shell jobber. Why on earth would you want to begin this type of thread, that gets everyone worked up? Leave a sleeping dog lie. Newsflash – regardless of the world’s political situation, gasoline prices have always gone up as Summer approaches, so what really is the issue?

Andy, Just listen to yourself. First of all this is the Off Topic section of the Forums so this thread is not out of place. The reason for this thread is people don't really know what determines the price they pay at the pump. I get phone calls daily and asked daily at my stores. I felt that there are people in this forum that might find my post informative. I disagree with your leave a sleeping dog lie philosophy. If everyone had that attitude we would have a bunch of 911 on our hands now wouldn't we. As far gasoline prices historically going up in the spring you are correct but this year crude oil has already hit a record breaking $56 a barrel and OPEC ministers meeting in Iran have been grappling with a problem they haven’t confronted in the cartel’s 45-year history. In the past, OPEC tried to cool overheated prices by pumping more when supplies got too tight. But most OPEC producers say they’re already pumping as fast as they can. And despite the high cost of a barrel of crude, world demand shows no signs of slowing. Andy from the amount of posts that you have you should be called "The Post Mister" it seems that you try to portray to every one that you know everything about everything you are always busting down on everyone posts and you are Soooooooooooo opinionated I think your last name should be Vasectomy.

 

[Briank]

Hang on crude went over $57 a barrel yesterday.

 

[Yellow Rose]

Andy from the amount of posts that you have you should be called "The Post Mister" .....

Not hardly, there are people with many more posts than me.

.....it seems that you try to portray to every one that you know everything about everything you are always busting down on everyone posts and you are Soooooooooooo opinionated

Yada yada yada. Gasoline prices historically go up as the "driving season" approaches. Blame it on the war, OPEC, big oil conspiracy, alignment of the planets, flying fish, or whatever people want to blame it on......prices go up as supply is diminished.

I think your last name should be Vasectomy.

And yours should be lobotomy. That's it, no Christmas card to you from me this year.