Gas prices...
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,204
Likes: 11
From: The Woodlands, TX
Pole Position
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 235
Likes: 10
From: FL
I have a 2005 LS430 and kept a Excel spreadsheet with all my expenses since purchased in 2009. Always use regular except for that last spike in Sept 2014 when I tried 2 tanks of premium fuel at $.40 more per gallon. Guess what, no change in MPG for those 2 tanks so I went back to regular. This chart shows 114,000 miles and 5,047 US gallons. The dip at far right is a recent trip through Alabama where gas is always about $.20 less than Florida.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,204
Likes: 11
From: The Woodlands, TX
Thread Starter
Lexus Champion
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,439
Likes: 0
From: CA
Interesting article:
You're Enjoying Low Gas Prices, But Is It Really A Good Sign?
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/23/358062...ly-a-good-sign
Thoughts?
You're Enjoying Low Gas Prices, But Is It Really A Good Sign?
...Over the past 12 months, the CPI has risen by 1.7 percent, roughly half of its historical average rate of increase.
That sounds great for consumers.
But some economists see possible trouble ahead. They worry that if energy prices were to keep sliding, the process could contribute to deflation — a brutal cycle of falling prices last seen in this country during the Great Depression of the 1930s...
That sounds great for consumers.
But some economists see possible trouble ahead. They worry that if energy prices were to keep sliding, the process could contribute to deflation — a brutal cycle of falling prices last seen in this country during the Great Depression of the 1930s...
Thoughts?
Lexus Champion
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 4,592
Likes: 31
From: TN
All this fracking and shale oil in Canada has the Arabs flipped the hell out. Usually if OPEC thought prices were getting too low, they'd just cut supply and push them up again.
Well now they're worried if they cut their production, there is more supply out there now days, so they can't play that same old trick they've been doing for years.
The Arabs/OPEC's strategy now is to amp up production, get oil prices so low that it becomes economically unviable to frack and shale. Fracking and shale oil is a lot more expensive to produce/extract, so its only economically viable when oil is above a certain price per barrel. Their idea is to bankrupt all these fracking/shale oil companies, thus it will tighten the supply again.
So for right now, healthy competition in the oil market is a WIN WIN WIN for almost everybody except the Arabs, Russia, and those with interests in fracking/shale oil.
Well now they're worried if they cut their production, there is more supply out there now days, so they can't play that same old trick they've been doing for years.
The Arabs/OPEC's strategy now is to amp up production, get oil prices so low that it becomes economically unviable to frack and shale. Fracking and shale oil is a lot more expensive to produce/extract, so its only economically viable when oil is above a certain price per barrel. Their idea is to bankrupt all these fracking/shale oil companies, thus it will tighten the supply again.
So for right now, healthy competition in the oil market is a WIN WIN WIN for almost everybody except the Arabs, Russia, and those with interests in fracking/shale oil.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,204
Likes: 11
From: The Woodlands, TX
Oil plunge takes price below $55 a barrel
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Oil continued its plunge early Tuesday, suggesting that drivers enjoying low gas prices may see even more relief at the pump ahead.
The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate fell below $55 for the first time in five years, while the price of the more global Brent crude fell below $60, also for the first time in five years. The price of both types of oil are now down more than $50 a barrel since hitting a 2014 peak in June.
The average gasoline price nationwide has now fallen more than $1 since its own peak of $3.70 a gallon in late April. AAA now reports that the national average stands at $2.53 for a gallon of regular.
The number of stations offering gas for less than $2 a gallon continues to spread. As of Tuesday, gas could be found below that benchmark in 17 states, as the cheap gas spread to Kentucky, Arkansas, Kansas and Tennessee. Thirteen states had at least one station below the $2 mark over the weekend.
None of the states have a statewide average below $2 yet. Missouri is reporting the lowest average price at $2.22. Every state except Alaska and Hawaii now enjoy a statewide average of less than $3 a gallon.
A study by the U.S. Energy Information Agency in October found that U.S. gas prices are most greatly influenced by Brent oil prices that are set globally, rather than the price of WTI or other domestic oil prices.
The fall in oil prices is led by slipping demand for oil due to economic slowdowns in Europe and Asia, as well as more fuel-efficient vehicles. But increased U.S. oil production is another major factor, as is a strong dollar.
With OPEC so far unwilling to cut production in order to prop up prices, some forecast that oil could fall to near $40 a barrel at some point in 2015. That would drive gas prices down even more and make gas for under $2 a gallon common at stations across the country.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/16/news...html?hpt=hp_t2
Oil continued its plunge early Tuesday, suggesting that drivers enjoying low gas prices may see even more relief at the pump ahead.
The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate fell below $55 for the first time in five years, while the price of the more global Brent crude fell below $60, also for the first time in five years. The price of both types of oil are now down more than $50 a barrel since hitting a 2014 peak in June.
The average gasoline price nationwide has now fallen more than $1 since its own peak of $3.70 a gallon in late April. AAA now reports that the national average stands at $2.53 for a gallon of regular.
The number of stations offering gas for less than $2 a gallon continues to spread. As of Tuesday, gas could be found below that benchmark in 17 states, as the cheap gas spread to Kentucky, Arkansas, Kansas and Tennessee. Thirteen states had at least one station below the $2 mark over the weekend.
None of the states have a statewide average below $2 yet. Missouri is reporting the lowest average price at $2.22. Every state except Alaska and Hawaii now enjoy a statewide average of less than $3 a gallon.
A study by the U.S. Energy Information Agency in October found that U.S. gas prices are most greatly influenced by Brent oil prices that are set globally, rather than the price of WTI or other domestic oil prices.
The fall in oil prices is led by slipping demand for oil due to economic slowdowns in Europe and Asia, as well as more fuel-efficient vehicles. But increased U.S. oil production is another major factor, as is a strong dollar.
With OPEC so far unwilling to cut production in order to prop up prices, some forecast that oil could fall to near $40 a barrel at some point in 2015. That would drive gas prices down even more and make gas for under $2 a gallon common at stations across the country.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/16/news...html?hpt=hp_t2