Posted on 08/14/2015 9:28:43 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Prices at some gas stations spiked 50¢ overnight.
Earlier this week, analysts proclaimed that $2 gas would be common once again around the U.S. Global oil prices are cratering, nearing $40 per barrel, and shrinking wholesale rates can only result in lower prices at the pump.
Or so one would think.
Despite plunging oil prices, drivers throughout the Midwest have been subjected to dramatic price spikes at gas stations this week. In Cincinnati, for instance, the price for a gallon of regular increased more than 40¢ overnight at some stations. Less than two weeks after analysts predicted average prices in Michigan would drop below $2 by Christmas, average prices have soared to $2.98 according to AAA. The average price per gallon in Illinois has inched up to just under $3 as well.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
I see:
“We here in the great lakes have a regional problem due to the BP Whiting refinery going down.”
I couldn’t find gas at $2 anywhere on that map. If you click on the map it pops up price in city.
The greenish tint on the map generally show about $2.30. There are pockets at about $2.10. Nothing at $2 or below
Here in NH it’s at $2.60.
The image I posted was from Detroit FOX, predicting $2. Detroit is at $3.00.
The country as a whole is not close to $2.
It is not that no new refineries have been built but also that many smaller refineries are being closed. There is an economics of scale and EPA regs do favor large installations as pollution control works on the same scale. With fewer refineries, there is less slack for other refineries to pickup in an emergency.
This article from 2012 Business Week states that the Midwest is running at 95% and that there are NO PIPELINES to redistribute from areas with greater ability. This same sequence of events, i.e.. refinery problem spikes gas prices, happened in California several times in the last decade. However, mention building new refineries or pipelines and watch the fur FLY!
Here in Sacarmento, the nearest Arco AM/PM MIni-Market was selling 87 pump octane unleaded for $3.19/gallon. Now it’s down to $2.99/gallon and may drop even further soon.
Refinery issues, I’ve heard.
...
Funny how that always seems to happen at just the right time for jacking up prices.
Went from $2.399 to $2.899 overnight, this week, ENE of Cincy.
And a whole lot of steps in between. Plus of course the oil prices that are falling is for oil that won’t be delivered to refineries for months.
The non-BP refineries have had to increase output to sell to BP stations, which means paying workers over time, which means their costs are higher, which means they’re charging your gas station more, which means your gas station is charging you more.
We were paying around $2.10 / gal for 87 octane E10 here in central Indiana a few weeks ago. Search on Gasbuddy for Charleston SC, Montgomery AL, etc you’ll see that price at a lot of stations.
Then BP Whiting went down and the price skyrocketed. As I wrote, we’re held hostage to the performance of one refinery. So many of the smaller ones closed up because onerous EPA air and groundwater regs made it uneconomical to upgrade them.
“And why is a quart of oil five bucks???”
Glad you brought that up, that’s an increase of about 400% in 15 years. One of the reasons is that cheap chemicals such as ZDDP, that does a great job against wear and oil film loss at high pressures, can’t be used anymore (I’m sure that you can guess why), so they use superexotic chemicals that don’t do as good of a job and cost MUCH more.
Price went from 2.69 to 2.99 overnight, while a station in Milwaukee went from 2.57 to 3.15 in 2 days.
Bump, sump, lump, ouch
$2.15 in Texas.
Gasoline and diesel taxes plus government regulations force up the prices.
Vermin.
Just paid 2.14 here in South Jersey.
and how about all the "oh woh is the poor, poor oil industry with the prices so low".
Since when has the left/media EVER been concerned with oil corp profits ? This is about trying to convince everyone that prices are so low (at the pump) that they need to be higher.
Remember what the Left said about the right price for gas/gallon ?
If we buy it, then they’ll charge it.
“Less than two weeks after analysts predicted average prices in Michigan would drop below $2 by Christmas, average prices have soared to $2.98 according to AAA.”
We haven’t seen prices that low since before 2008.
One issue is the two refineries in our state said they cannot comply with Obama’s new illegal regulations about carbon emissions and are going to have to shut down if they are implemented.
A few days back, there was a price difference of almost 25 cents between Spring Lake, Michigan (usually the cheaper) and Grand Haven (2.309/gal), and by the next day it was 2.999/gal pretty much everywhere. There was some kind of refinery bottleneck, I forget where, maybe Indiana, but *we all know* that's not the reason, that this is *price-gouging* by the *Bilderbergers*. /s
Having a so-called EPA mandating 70 formulations of gasoline is inherently stupid and even evil.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.