U.S. Gas Prices Crest $3 a Gallon
Reuters reports that U.S. gas prices have returned to summertime price levels, north of $3 a gallon. With the cost of crude oil jumping 17 percent to more than $96 per barrel, the AAA figures three buck a gallon gas was overdue. "We are surprised we didn't hit $3 sooner,” admits spokesman Geoff Sundstrom. “Prices could go higher now that we are moving into the higher-demand season that coincides with Thanksgiving and the year-end holidays." The US government says gasoline prices rose to $3.01 per gallon this week; diesel fuel is at a record high of $3.30 a gallon. “If we stay at $95 to $100 per barrel crude,” Sundstrom said. “It wouldn't be out of the question to see $4 in some places.” Additional insight arrives via the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its Short-Term Energy Outlook the EIA predicts “crude oil prices are expected to remain high and volatile.” Ya think?
Glenn is a baby-boomer, born in 1954. Along with his wife, he makes his home in Connecticut. Employed in the public sector as an Information Tedchnology Specialist, Glenn has long been a car fan. Past rides have included heavy iron such as a 1967 GTO, to a V8 T-Bird. In between those high-horsepower cars, he's owned a pair of BMW 320i's. Now, with a daily commute of 40 miles, his concession to MPG dictates the ownership of a 2006 Honda Civic coupe which, while fun to drive, is a modest car for a pistonhead. As an avid reader, Glenn enjoys TTAC, along with many other auto-realated sites, and the occasional good book. As an avid electronic junkie, Glenn holds an Advanced Class amateur ("ham") radio license, and is into many things electronic. From a satellite radio and portable GPS unit in the cars, to a modest home theater system and radio-intercom in his home, if it's run by the movement of electrons, he's interested. :-)
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Well thank God the LS600hL and Two-mode Tahoe will soon be saturating the automotive market to lessen the demand for oil.
Donal : the refinery by me that supplies most of my state uses tar/sands oil from Canada-thats what it was set up to refine and our prices here were always average to below average on prices at the pump pre- 2000--so the owner of the refinery can refine it at the going national rate because its set up for it,and i know when oil was 40 bucks a barrel the refinery was paying 4 dollars a barrel for the Canadian oil. when katrina hit our gas prices went up and we didn't export gas from here to there because our gas blend was different,and we don't import oil from the gulf coast to refine at this refinery so the prices should not have gone up but they did because they can. thats why i question why its at 100 dollars a barrel-- i don't believe there excuses for doing it.
stuntnun, a rising tide lifts all boats - and rising oil prices worldwide lift all oil prices. Not that we want to hear it, but it's what's happening. Look at it another way. A guy makes "widgets" and starts selling them locally for $4. He finds that "widgets" are in phenomenal need elsewhere, and that he can sell them for $6 and make extra profit, but as he does that he requires a new factory - which costs him money to build, meaning his extra profit is cut by 1/2. So he goes ahead, and locally starts charging $6 for his widgets instead of $4. So the locals whine. But the locals don't mind going to work at the widget factory and earn money. Kind of like that. We whine about gas prices, but without oil - we're totally screwed. So the thing is - we need to find alternative energy. You know, like driving electric cars powered by wind or solar, and butanol from sugar beets, and see this for yourself www.changingworldtech.com - these brainiacs know how to turn offal, sewage and garbage into home heating oil / diesel fuel (bio-fuel, but chemically identical to "oil" oil). One refinery step away from gasoline. As I've mentioned before, we've not exactly been Johnny on the spot when it comes to using our collective brains about doing this - it's not like we weren't warned with a shot across the bow in 1973, 1979, 1990, and 9/11/01, is it?