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 $3 as well.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
It wasn't recent, but boutique blends have made gas more expensive for a while now. We can't import a different blend into this area to meet the demand, so the price spikes.
We're from the EPA and we're here to help you. Don't drink the orange water.
Great! And how will I drive my EMP/nuclear bomb damaged car and country?
Here in Torrance commiefornia, there are 2 stations across from each other, ARCO and Chevron, Arco 3.41 and the Chevron 4.15! Oil is what 43$ a barrel. What if it was 120$ a barrel? 12 bucks a gallon!
I assume BP Whiting isn’t making ANY money when they can’t process crude. Maybe I’m missing something? Or are you implying they are in collusion with the other refiners?
Stop complaining. We are paying $3.50 a gallon at Costco here in California. It was around $4 a gallon last month. We average about $1 per gallon more than the folks next door in Arizona. We have been getting F’ed by both the state and the oil companies for years.
The state requires a unique gas formula different from every other state. So, we depend on in-state refineries to supply it. Then the refineries find reasons to have to shut down for repairs, improvements, etc, any reason to jack up the price.
Plus, the state with its global warming left wing politicians is placing hidden taxes on gas so as to fight global warming, AKA climate change. There are charges placed on distributors and other middle-men that result in higher gas prices but do not show up at the pump as state gasoline tax amount but are buried in the price per gallon.
Refineries have been closing down for decades. Demand for gas has been steadily dropping as average fuel efficiency has increased. Over the past few years refiners have also been hit by steadily increasing oil prices. Costs go up, demand goes down, your price flexibility isn't very flexible. So refiners closed down dozens of plants. Now when prices are low and demand for gas may be going up the capacity to increase the supply isn't there.
;’)
I think it has NOTHING to do with the 1100% increase in profits the refineries have been taking in.
So what's your solution? A single grade of gas produced 12 months out of the year? Summer and winter blends are there for a reason; they make cars run more efficiently and cleanly in the season in question and therefore save drivers money and wear-and-tear on their engine. Do you want to do away with that and cost consumers more? And yes, there are blends that cut down on pollution in major cities. I hope we can agree that cutting down on pollution is a good thing, especially in urban areas. So would you have a single blend, more expensive to produce, which helps keep the air in the cities clean but which is really not needed for rural areas, forcing drivers in those places to spend more with seeing any real benefit?
This is not a one-size-fits-all country, and the weather is not the same 12 months out of the year. The need for different blends of gas is not in and of itself a bad thing and not the major reason why gas doesn't move with oil prices.
$3.33 yesterday....$3.43 today.
San Diego
$1.94 in Greenville, SC...$2.04 in Kingsport, TN.
The blends have nothing to do with performance, and are strictly measures to deal with seasonal changes. There is no need to have over a 100 different blends throughout the land. You need a summer blend and a winter blend because the fuel behaves differently between the seasons, not because the car works more or less efficiently. Winter blend gasolines will boil off more rapidly in warmer temperatures, and summer blends are designed to prevent this. There's more butane added in winter blends, which reduces fuel economy (thus requiring more fuel to be burned, and contributing to more pollution from the higher consumption). Same with ethanol blends. E-85 is considerably less efficient that 100% gasoline, about a 26% difference in mileage.
Again, you burn more fuel to go the same distance.
Other blends may be necessary to compensate for altitude differences, but those are adjustments to octane level. Higher altitude, lower octane, and vice versa (not to confuse the issue with Avgas, it's higher octane for a different reason). There is no reason to have 100 different blends based on bureaucrats' whims.
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.