I filled up a couple days ago at 2.55 / gal and drivin by the stations on my way home tonight its at 2.95..

Did i miss some news???

 

Holiday weekend maybe? Over the river and through the woods a bit pricey.

 

So, it's not just us that are getting screwged this holiday season...

From the sounds of things, there is no real reason for this other than greed.

 

Well at first prices went up because of Hurricane Katrina. Remember complainin because diesel was 1.80. After the storm way above 2.00 and it rose and rose. I think after things settled down they forgot to lower it back to normal robbery.

 

Price is regulated by suply and demand.

Supply stays the same, demand goes up (holiday weekend) = Higher prices. It is basic economics.






I am not saying it is right/fair, but it is the way a free market works...

 

Well we have speculation that also effects the price. Not just demand but what some think demand might be. Also when demand drops in comparison to supply you never see the cost at the pump drop at the same rate that it went up.
GREED is definately a factor it's just not the only factor.

 

Prices here havent moved much, but in the news they mentioned holiday driving was contributing to higher prices. Yeah.. right.
They just want to prove they can set the number wherever they want and we'll cough up the $$$.
I heard the reason behind the change in how wildly fuel prices fluctuate has to do with tying pump prices on oil futures or somesuch, which wasnt done before.
Used to be fuel in the tanks at a station that cost 2.00 sold for 2.00 and then when filled with 2.25 fuel the price went to 2.25. Now theyll sell that 2.00 fuel for 2.50 if the futures jump. I think the govt is even still subsidizing the oil companies. Talk about a free ride. Just proves there need to be controls in place to keep things fair.

 

It's seems to me prices went down before the elections after here in reno it's gone up 40 cents.

 

You noticed that too? Too bad most Americans, of both parties, haven't.

 

I noticed that it's went down quite sometime before the election which falls in early Nov.
I then noticed a slight increase right before thanksgiving (as it always does before a holiday) Then again a few weeks later. This is normally and blamed on home heating oil production. The rise in price has just been much greater the past few yrs because they've figured out that we'll pay it. Now it has gone up again and they blame it on holiday travel.
It's all about profit not politics.

 

At the Flying J, here in Phoenix, it's $2.49/9. At the "J" in Eloy (between Phoenix & Tucson), it's $2.43/9.

I just heard on the news that the diesel prices had stabilized because of the milder winter, back east.

Regarding Katrina & diesel prices, the ONLY source for diesel was from our US based refineries, whereas, after the hurricane, many ocean-going fuel tankers were diverted to the US to bolster the supplies of unleaded gasoline. None of those tankers carried diesel.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

 

Crude oil that is pumped out of the ground is composed of thousands of different hydrocarbon compounds. The carbon atoms link together in chains of different lengths, shapes and sizes. Each individual chain length or molecular size has different properties including progressively higher boiling points, so they can be separated by boiling point or distillation.

Distillation is the first major process at an oil refinery. As the crude oil is heated, different hydrocarbon compounds are separated by their boiling temperatures. The lightest components such as ethane and propane come off the top of the distillation tower. The next components, called naphtha, are used for making gasoline.

The next heavier portion of crude oil coming from the distillation tower is used to make diesel fuel. Diesel fuel contains larger hydrocarbon molecules, with more carbon atoms than gasoline. Simple distillation does not produce enough gasoline and diesel fuel, so heavier fractions of crude oil are broken into smaller compounds by thermal or catalytic cracking, or hydrocracking, to produce higher volumes of gasoline and diesel fuel. To lower the level of sulphur in the fuel, some of these fractions may be hydrotreated. Various component streams are blended to meet the required diesel fuel specifications.

Hydrocarbons – compounds composed of carbon and hydrogen.

Hydrocracking – a severe, high temperature, high pressure refinery process that converts heavy black oil into gasoline and diesel fuel by cracking or breaking up larger molecules, in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst.

Hydrotreating – a refinery process that reacts a fraction of crude oil with hydrogen at high temperature and pressure, in the presence of a catalyst, to improve colour and odour, and reduce sulphur content.

Don't the ships just bring back crude oil from anywhere to refine it on shore? They don't just drill for straight gasoline or diesel. Those are made from crude oil.

 

Ummm WHAT HE SAID!

 

Hi drolex,

If your last paragraph was referring to my last post regarding tankers hauling gasoline, I heard that on the news.

After Katrina damaged many of the refinerys, there were a number of tankers full of gasoline, out in the ocean, heading to other parts of the world. These tankers were diverted to the US to help with the upcoming fuel shortage.

As far as I know, you are right about the tankers hauling crude, also.

Your post gives a very good description on how fuels ar created. Thanks for posting that.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

 

That's very nice to actually know how diesel and gas are made when they don't have much left to make it. Okay so they refine it a little more. What I was getting at was, fuel prices were significantly smaller right before Katrina. They haven't let up since, and not many seem to remember that. So what drolex is telling me is that fuel production technology since hurricane Katrina has improved far faster than any technology before? Now we have to pay these prices because of technology and not supply and demand? The further I think about this the more I want to cuss...but I can't do that here, so I will just smile and give the oil companies the bird in my head.