Gas Prices coming down!?
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From: North Dakota
Gas Prices coming down!?
Not sure if this should be in this forum, but what are the gas prices doing in your area? Here in Jamestown (ND) the price was $2.99 a gal on 8/21, price dropped to $2.89 on 8/24, price dropped to $2.79 on 8/28 and then to $2.74 on 8/29!
Mid Grade is running $2.79 and Premium $2.84. Some stations in ND are even down into the $2.65 range! Meanwhile, E-85 sales have been slumping big time around here. After ND did away with the state tax break of $.23 a gallon about 4 months ago, plus the fact that ethenol prices have been going up in price it ends up where E-85 is only a few cents cheaper than regular gas. Throw in the fact that most motorist have figured out that the gas mileage runs anywhere from 10 to 15 percent less. Also the ND Public Service Commision had tests run on E85 and found that it was running anywhere from E50 to E85 with most tests in the E70 range. Now a third of the stations in the state that did sell E85 have quit. Partially due to sales and partially due to suppliers simply aren't interested in maintaining supplies.
Mid Grade is running $2.79 and Premium $2.84. Some stations in ND are even down into the $2.65 range! Meanwhile, E-85 sales have been slumping big time around here. After ND did away with the state tax break of $.23 a gallon about 4 months ago, plus the fact that ethenol prices have been going up in price it ends up where E-85 is only a few cents cheaper than regular gas. Throw in the fact that most motorist have figured out that the gas mileage runs anywhere from 10 to 15 percent less. Also the ND Public Service Commision had tests run on E85 and found that it was running anywhere from E50 to E85 with most tests in the E70 range. Now a third of the stations in the state that did sell E85 have quit. Partially due to sales and partially due to suppliers simply aren't interested in maintaining supplies.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,422
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From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
No problem...fire away. We've had many threads and forums in CL on gas prices. I've started several of them myself...and was ready to start this one when I saw you just beat me to it.
Gas prices are indeed dropping.
Once again the age-old effect of supply-and-demand ( NOT price manipulation by oil companies ) is starting to give us a little break at the pumps. In my area ( No VA-DC suburbs ) it has dropped about 20 cents or so in just the last couple of weeks. In my neighborhood, regular is $2.89 and premium $3.09...within a few cents of the current national average.
The cease-fire in the Middle East ( though it wasn't a real peace, as the future will show ) had a little to do with it by dropping the price paid by oil speculators, but mostly it is just supply-and-demand. Demand for gasoline is down for several reasons, even though we are still at the tail end of the peak summer vacation driving season. Many consumers have traded in big, gas-guzzling SUV's for much smaller and more economical vehicles. Still others are using public transit more.
B**ching and griping about " greedy " oil companies won't solve a thing. They are not the ones responsible for high prices to start with. Like many of us have said before, there is only one REAL way to get prices down. ( and, fortunately we are doing it, as the last several weeks show ) We simply have to lessen demand and increase supply. We are doing that on the demand side, but we need to do a little more on the supply side, too, by increasing the supply.
Gas prices are indeed dropping.
Once again the age-old effect of supply-and-demand ( NOT price manipulation by oil companies ) is starting to give us a little break at the pumps. In my area ( No VA-DC suburbs ) it has dropped about 20 cents or so in just the last couple of weeks. In my neighborhood, regular is $2.89 and premium $3.09...within a few cents of the current national average. The cease-fire in the Middle East ( though it wasn't a real peace, as the future will show ) had a little to do with it by dropping the price paid by oil speculators, but mostly it is just supply-and-demand. Demand for gasoline is down for several reasons, even though we are still at the tail end of the peak summer vacation driving season. Many consumers have traded in big, gas-guzzling SUV's for much smaller and more economical vehicles. Still others are using public transit more.
B**ching and griping about " greedy " oil companies won't solve a thing. They are not the ones responsible for high prices to start with. Like many of us have said before, there is only one REAL way to get prices down. ( and, fortunately we are doing it, as the last several weeks show ) We simply have to lessen demand and increase supply. We are doing that on the demand side, but we need to do a little more on the supply side, too, by increasing the supply.
Last edited by mmarshall; Aug 30, 2006 at 12:37 PM.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,422
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From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
$2.65 is a great price....but is that for good, name-band gas with good additives and detergents or just some off-brand junk that will clog up fuel injectors?
Speaks French in Russian
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: What is G?
Shell. Not the one to buy into name brand gas is better than the lesser known gas though...
Last edited by GFerg; Aug 30, 2006 at 12:48 PM.
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Speaks French in Russian
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From: What is G?
Gasoline prices could keep falling
http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...ice-usat_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...ice-usat_x.htm
Gasoline prices are falling fast and could keep dropping for months.
"The only place they have to go is down," says Fred Rozell, gasoline analyst at the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). "We'll be closer to $2 than $3 come Thanksgiving."
Travel organization AAA foresees prices 10 cents a gallon lower by the end of next week. It reported a nationwide average of $2.84 Tuesday, the lowest since April 20.
It's good news for consumers and the economy. Continued lower prices "may act like a tax cut" and stimulate spending, says Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City in Cleveland. He calculates that higher energy prices the first six months cut growth of consumer spending 1 percentage point.
The U.S. average for a gallon of regular peaked this year at $3.036 Aug. 10, according to OPIS/AAA daily surveys. That's slightly under the high of $3.057 Sept. 5, a week after Hurricane Katrina battered petroleum production in the Gulf of Mexico and caused fears of fuel shortages.
OPIS' Rozell figures prices will jump again next spring.
Behind the current drop:
•The end of summer. Driving slows, reducing demand for gasoline. And federal requirements for clean air, summer-blend gasoline end next month, making gasoline cheaper to refine and import.
•Sluggish demand. Gasoline use in the first eight months of the year is up 1% vs. a year ago, less than the 1.5% to 2% growth that's typical, says Michael Morris, analyst at the U.S. Energy Information Administration. "Wholesalers are trying to get rid of product. The growth in demand for gasoline has really tapered off," he says.
Wholesale prices are falling faster than retail gasoline prices, meaning stations are making more money than when prices were $3. Wholesale prices Tuesday ranged from $1.77 to $1.79 a gallon, well below the $2-plus prices typical until recently.
•Petroleum traders, worried that prices are too high to last, are selling their holdings. That pushes prices down. They also believe hurricanes won't disrupt Gulf of Mexico production, OPIS senior analyst Tom Kloza says.
Crude oil, which accounts for roughly half the price of gasoline, ended New York trading Tuesday down 90 cents, at $69.71 a barrel. That's the first time it's closed at less than $70 since May 4.
Contributing: Chris Woodyard, Barbara Hagenbaugh
"The only place they have to go is down," says Fred Rozell, gasoline analyst at the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). "We'll be closer to $2 than $3 come Thanksgiving."
Travel organization AAA foresees prices 10 cents a gallon lower by the end of next week. It reported a nationwide average of $2.84 Tuesday, the lowest since April 20.
It's good news for consumers and the economy. Continued lower prices "may act like a tax cut" and stimulate spending, says Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City in Cleveland. He calculates that higher energy prices the first six months cut growth of consumer spending 1 percentage point.
The U.S. average for a gallon of regular peaked this year at $3.036 Aug. 10, according to OPIS/AAA daily surveys. That's slightly under the high of $3.057 Sept. 5, a week after Hurricane Katrina battered petroleum production in the Gulf of Mexico and caused fears of fuel shortages.
OPIS' Rozell figures prices will jump again next spring.
Behind the current drop:
•The end of summer. Driving slows, reducing demand for gasoline. And federal requirements for clean air, summer-blend gasoline end next month, making gasoline cheaper to refine and import.
•Sluggish demand. Gasoline use in the first eight months of the year is up 1% vs. a year ago, less than the 1.5% to 2% growth that's typical, says Michael Morris, analyst at the U.S. Energy Information Administration. "Wholesalers are trying to get rid of product. The growth in demand for gasoline has really tapered off," he says.
Wholesale prices are falling faster than retail gasoline prices, meaning stations are making more money than when prices were $3. Wholesale prices Tuesday ranged from $1.77 to $1.79 a gallon, well below the $2-plus prices typical until recently.
•Petroleum traders, worried that prices are too high to last, are selling their holdings. That pushes prices down. They also believe hurricanes won't disrupt Gulf of Mexico production, OPIS senior analyst Tom Kloza says.
Crude oil, which accounts for roughly half the price of gasoline, ended New York trading Tuesday down 90 cents, at $69.71 a barrel. That's the first time it's closed at less than $70 since May 4.
Contributing: Chris Woodyard, Barbara Hagenbaugh
