HOHN

The ignorant fools in Congress just don't get it. People will ALWAYS try to avoid a tax. If you tax property by frontal area, people build narrower buildings. You tax by mileage, they will disconnect speedos. You tax by fuel purchased in state (via higher state tax), then they will go to another state to buy it when they can.

Why can't people learn lessons from history, both distant and recent? Even the current cigarette tax fiasco is instructive on how foolish these policies are. There never was a cigarette smuggling problem until the gov't of some states created it with their tax policy.

THINK, PEOPLE!

JDiepstra

Prices are going back up dude.

capt.Ron

We'll maybe.
We saw a 16 dollar drop last week and a 2 dollar rise today. The rise was caused much by speculators fears or expectaions of a Hurricane shutting down rigs in the gulf.
If we could get a commitment to drill for more oil we would get another drop in oil...at least for the short term. Once we see that oil it would go down even more.

coparam4x4

Fuel has only gone down a token .03 cents here since the "biggest three day drop in oils history". I'd bet my truck that fuel would have gone up more than that if oil went the other direction in the same time period.

On another note. How come none of the pumps in the US (that I have ever pumped at) are not adjusted for temperature? But you can bet your a** it is at every other level except the consumer level. I just filled a 5 gal can yesterday to the line on the can, hmm but I paid for 5.2 gal. I live in one of the hottest states and were getting ripped off every single gallon thats pumped here. So what's that "DRIVEL" called?

capt.Ron

It's dropped 10 cents on both gas and diesel in my area.
I agree though that they always go up more and faster than they go down.

I'm not sure but I bet they're not required (at the consumer level) to adjust for the heat. I read something about that a while back and from what I remember it could be done with a simple computer program on most of todays newer pumps.

lobes1985

the pump really doesnt need to be adjusted, the fueltank is under ground enough that it is not affected by temp, now if you have above ground tank, thats another story

shorthair

Try 47.9 cents a gallon at that I could fill my dirtbike for less than 6 bits.

capt.Ron

28.9 per gal!!!

garbri

Which brings me to my next question...why must they still keep the 9/10 cent on the price of gas and diesel? I understand when the price was $.28/gallon, but with fuel in the $5 range, it seems to be a moot point.

One station in our area dropped the 9/10 cent garbage a few years ago, and one station mocked others by offering gas at XXX8/10 cent and calling it "discount gas".

Back to the original question, why do prices go up so quickly and drop so slowly?

Again, greed. Station owners sometimes raise the prices when wholesale prices go up, usually illegally. While oil prices are falling for August delivery (I beleive the August oil deliveries have already been closed, it doesn't represent what will happen this week. It represents what will happen at the wholesale level in August). Wholesale gas prices have fallen a little more sharply, and we should see gas for under $4/gallon in August. I didn't see how diesel deliveries for August looked, but it should be in the lower $4/gallon level.

This is all subject to greed, though. and station owners may try and ride out the high prices for a while.

HOHN

Call your state ag department at the number listed on the sticker at the pump. The pumps are inspected for accuracy and if you trust the gov't they will make sure they are accurate.

I think Flying J was successfully sued for hot fuel in some areas, if I remember correctly. They said they were ripping people off as much as 2% (again, just OTTOMH)


A good starting point for who is REALLY to blame are the same people offering "solutions."

The free market works better when allowed to.

jmo (see sig)

HOHN

Greed? Why not levy those charges at other businesses that run MUCH higher profit margins?

Would you care to share what level of price a gas station is allowed to charge?

I mean, since you have no choice at all on where to buy fuel, I'm sure you'd like the gov't to regulate the ONE STATION where you buy fuel to make sure it's "fair", right?

Who gets to define "fair", anyway? You? Based on what?

FACT: A gas station earns 10-15 CENTS on a gallon of gas, on average.
FACT: This equates to a profit margin of as little as 2%-3% with fuel pushing $5/gal
FACT: Gas stations pay different prices for fuel because they are charged different prices by the oil company whose name is on the sign. Two Texaco stations might not pay the same price for fuel, even though they buy it from the same distibutor!


All of this points to one thing if nothing else-- while oil companies might be making a lot of money, your local gas station owner is feeling even more pain than you are!! Most of them are raising prices as far as they can, just to try and get a LITTLE money to make ends meet. With consumers being more cost-conscious, competition for fuel sales is fierce.


Anyone remember the gas wars of the 80s? It's that competitive again, and once again the station owners are losing money. Only this time, the oil company isn't going down with them...

Reading assignments:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...090701954.html

http://www.smartmoney.com/10things/i...ory=august2006

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=10733468

http://www.venturacountystar.com/new...profit-margin/

http://johnibiii.wordpress.com/2008/...rofit-margins/



Happy reading!

JH

graphitecumnz

This will fall on deaf ears...

isu elvi

August, 2002, gas was $1.13 ( my pre-diesel days) on the first day of college, so no it wasnt all that long ago. Its the same as corn, soybeans, and everything else though. Corn was $2 bu. for 50+ years, and in 5 years or less its pushing $7. Scary isn't it.

dropmech

If any of you get the oppertunity, go to Google video and type in "Energy Non Crisis". It's about a 75 minute video, but I felt it was time well spent just to get another point of view on how oil prices are determined. Very informative video. I'll admit it's from one man's point of view, but seems very possible.

garbri

Hohn,

I never said gas station owners had it easy. It's just that some take advantage of current events and news by jacking up the prices, many times illegally. If you raise the prices before your next delivery, it can be against the law.

I have known three folks that owned gas stations, and all three sold them to pursue other interests. One of them had a Shell station, and swore they were the worst company in the world to deal with. My other two friends, who owned Chevron stations, said Shell was notorious for that. All said that the margins were in the $.25/gallon range, but that was eaten up by double walled tanks, insurance, pump-n-jumps, and other losses. My friends said that they all made the real money running repair and smog facilities, quick marts and car washes. FWIW, one is making serious cash now with McDonalds franchises and a Subway at the mall.

Anyhow, my original point being that there is a fine line between capitalism and greed. When someone becomes a middleman with no other intention than making money on a commodity, that, in my mind, becomes greed.

Oh, would you look at that? The price of August oil deliveries is under $125/bbl. Gasoline futures are about to dip below $3/gallon for wholesale.

garrett