$2.03 Gas - Wish I Had Known About This!

[acsguitar]

I think its about time to start biking....

[WickedSmaat]

I know this is mostly a talk about gas (was $2.63 by me last night), but one thing to watch for is the price of Copper, which is on a new high of $3.50 a pound, when it was around $1.00 or so a pound in 2003. Copper is used in so many things, that it looks like there may be another cost in living increase because of it. I've read a report from Phelps Dodge(largest copper company in USA) that they're expecting it to drop, but there still is a chance that they can rise. I'd keep an eye on it, almost makes me wish I would have invested when I knew they were going up a couple years ago

[knapplc]

I know this is mostly a talk about gas (was $2.63 by me last night), but one thing to watch for is the price of Copper, which is on a new high of $3.50 a pound, when it was around $1.00 or so a pound in 2003. Copper is used in so many things, that it looks like there may be another cost in living increase because of it. I've read a report from Phelps Dodge(largest copper company in USA) that they're expecting it to drop, but there still is a chance that they can rise. I'd keep an eye on it, almost makes me wish I would have invested when I knew they were going up a couple years ago

There are SO MANY things about which we could say that, though.

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

If you're mad at the energy companies for record profits you must be pissed as heck that Starbucks is also recording high profits.

Big difference in that comparison. Starbucks is a luxury. No one will literally die without Starbucks coffee, and people can always go with cheaper brands, so paying high prices is a choice in the Starbucks example.

Gas, heating oil, and electric, are not things that people can simply do without. We have to purchase those products, and no matter what they cost, we will have to continue to purchase those products. Robbing people for no reason on things they must have in order to survive is a pathetic practice, and people have the right to be upset when they know they are getting robbed for no reason.

Exactly. I'm not mad at anyone really since it's simple economics at work, I'm just trying to show that there's plenty of blame to go around. It all doesn't belong on the oil companies, and it doesn't all belong on the government.

Interesting post WR. Not sure it would work, but it does make you think.

That's how I've always bought gas, even before they started making you bend over at the pump. With the way the price flucuates so much around here I hardly ever have more than half a tank in hopes that I can top it off when the price comes down again. I got it at $2.65 two days ago so I splurged and got it up to 3/4.

[davidmarver]

$2.87?

It's $3.47 here in Santa Barbara.

I've seen some places in Carp and Goleta like a 3.57 or 3.67.

Horrible. Utterly Horrible.

Hooray for a decent mass transit system.

The cheapest I've seen near campus is the Shell (what a weird day it is when Shell is the cheapest gas) off Turnpike near the In'N'Out.

[Fireball Express]

The cheapest I've seen near campus is the Shell (what a weird day it is when Shell is the cheapest gas) off Turnpike near the In'N'Out.

I usually get my gas at the Shell station by my house. It's usually cheaper than the Exxons in the area and about the same price as the no-name places and Citco.
In 2007 Shell will be buliding the largest refinery in the US in Port Arthur, Texas. That's what we need, more refineries, no matter what the green nazis say.


Wrveres, if that guy is eating 2 eggs a day the cost of eggs is the least of his worries. I'd be more concerned about my cholesterol level than the price of eggs. He should have a bran muffin every now and then. lol.

Mad, my point about Starbucks is that their profits are so high right now too. People start talking about the oil companies making record profits like there's something wrong with that. They're only in business to make money. It's capitalism. It's America.


Why am I the only one who fingered the Traders? They set the prices. If they didn't panic every time a Saudi farted the prices may be lower.

I agree with the general opinion here that there is enough blame to go around. We can blame ourselves, the consumers, as well. We can also blame car companies.

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

The cheapest I've seen near campus is the Shell (what a weird day it is when Shell is the cheapest gas) off Turnpike near the In'N'Out.

I usually get my gas at the Shell station by my house. It's usually cheaper than the Exxons in the area and about the same price as the no-name places and Citco.
In 2007 Shell will be buliding the largest refinery in the US in Port Arthur, Texas. That's what we need, more refineries, no matter what the green nazis say.

To ease the pressure on the oil market yes, but not if we're serious about getting kicking our oil habit. (Which I'm starting to doubt more and more lately)

Wrveres, if that guy is eating 2 eggs a day the cost of eggs is the least of his worries. I'd be more concerned about my cholesterol level than the price of eggs. He should have a bran muffin every now and then. lol.

Mad, my point about Starbucks is that their profits are so high right now too. People start talking about the oil companies making record profits like there's something wrong with that. They're only in business to make money. It's capitalism. It's America.

I completely agree with you about profits and capitalism but I also completely agree with Mad. If an upstart coffee house chain started cutting into Starbucks market share, they'd have to adapt. My point (and I think Mads as well) is that it's difficult (impossible actually) to start up a viable oil drilling/refining/shipping company as an alternative to the already big, established super powers so we as consumers don't have the chance to make them pay with our pay checks.

Why am I the only one who fingered the Traders? They set the prices. If they didn't panic every time a Saudi farted the prices may be lower.

Because no one else knows how the system works? I know I don't ... I just like bitching and sounding like I've got something relevant and important to say.

I agree with the general opinion here that there is enough blame to go around. We can blame ourselves, the consumers, as well. We can also blame car companies.

True, but at the same time, like I was saying before, we as consumers don't really have a viable alternative to reduce our consumption. In our society having a car has become essential and just saying "don't drive as much" really isn't practical unless we want to lose our job, live in our office, or spend 2 hours everyday biking to work. And moving closer to the city isn't a practical suggestion either. I realize that's a product of ours and prior generations ignoring of the issue, but it is what it is.

[knapplc]

Why am I the only one who fingered the Traders? They set the prices. If they didn't panic every time a Saudi farted the prices may be lower.

I guess I didn't reply in support of this statement (I thought I had ) but I agree wholeheartedly with it. It's very easy to point fingers at the Oil Companies with their record profits mostly because that's what the press covers. But the traders are the ones who set the prices, I agree, and I also agree that they scream like little girls when anyone in the ME breaks wind.

Very accurate (and humorous) analysis of the real issue here.

[Art Vandelay]

What if everyone only bought $10.00 worth of gas each time they pulled to
the pump. The dealers tanks would stay semi full all the time. The dealers
wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tank farms. The tank
farms wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the refining plants. And
the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the
huge tankers coming from the Middle East.

I don't buy this. I hear theories like this all the time, but they just don't make sense to me. Spreading your gas-buying out wont change the amount of gas sold, only cutting back on use will accomplish that. On average, the stations wouldn't be selling any less gasoline per day, they'd just be having way more transactions, so their holding tanks wouldn't sit full as this scenario claims. Selling five gallons a day to 100 different people is the same as selling 20 gallons a day to 25 different people.

As an added note..When I buy $10.00 worth of gas,that leaves my tank a
little under half full. The way prices are jumping around, you can buy gas
for $2.65 a gallon and then the next morning it can be $2.15. If you have
your tank full of $2.65 gas you don't have room for the $2.15 gas. You might
not understand the economics of only buying two eggs at a time but, you
can't buy cheaper gas if your tank is full of the high priced stuff.

I don't know about the rest of the country, but gas hardly ever goes down by more than a few cents a gallon from one day to the next here, and there hasn't been a significant, sustained drop in price in months. So by filling up my tank I'm taking away my ability to buy cheaper gas the next day, but the chances of their being significantly cheaper gas the next day are very slim. However, I've seen the price of gas rise by as much as twelve to fourteen cents from one day to the next at some places here, so if I fill up I'm less likely to have to pay more for gas the next day.

I'm no economist, so maybe this would actually work, but I doubt it.

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

As an added note..When I buy $10.00 worth of gas,that leaves my tank a
little under half full. The way prices are jumping around, you can buy gas
for $2.65 a gallon and then the next morning it can be $2.15. If you have
your tank full of $2.65 gas you don't have room for the $2.15 gas. You might
not understand the economics of only buying two eggs at a time but, you
can't buy cheaper gas if your tank is full of the high priced stuff.

I don't know about the rest of the country, but gas hardly ever goes down by more than a few cents a gallon from one day to the next here, and there hasn't been a significant, sustained drop in price in months. So by filling up my tank I'm taking away my ability to buy cheaper gas the next day, but the chances of their being significantly cheaper gas the next day are very slim. However, I've seen the price of gas rise by as much as twelve to fourteen cents from one day to the next at some places here, so if I fill up I'm less likely to have to pay more for gas the next day.

I'm no economist, so maybe this would actually work, but I doubt it.

There are times where it'll come down 10-15 cents in a day here. It was in the low $2.80s the first of last week and was down to $2.65 today so that's why I hardly ever have a full tank -- I never know when it's gonna fall like that. Of course it's always $2.90 the next day when I get greedy waiting for it to drop another penny.

I agree with you though when you say boycotting or filling up several times a week won't do anything to prices short or long term. It's not exactly like the egg situation because there are other markets (Europe and Asia in particular) where they can easily sell any surplus a boycotting would build up.