Gas Prices Way Down...Why No Word From the MSM

Me | 10/26/05 | The Louis Wu

[Brizick]

Gasoline prices are down here too (N IL), BUT diesel is WAY UP - about $1.00/gallon more than regular.

This is a MAJOR problem - we'll get hit on the back end with prices going up for everything due to delivery costs.

[Alberta's Child]

Goldman Sachs sold off 40 million shares of Exxon-Mobil last week, which to me is a clear indication that they don't expect oil prices to stay this high for long.

My prediction is that by February I'll be able to fill up for $1.99/gallon here in New Jersey -- and that's for 93 octane.

[visualops]

Price of gas here (upstate SC) has dropped about 60-70 cents since Katrina.

[kittymyrib]

Why are Texas stations still charging $2.45 when OK is selling at $2.02? Inquiring minds want to know why we are being gouged. Gov. Perry, ask your fat cat oilman friends why we are still paying through the nose when oil has fallen $10/bbl.

[jayef]

BINGO. NC's gas problem is a tax problem . . . not a price problem.

[Aggie Mama]

Damn that Big Oil!

[Abathar]

"Gasoline prices are down here too (N IL), BUT diesel is WAY UP - about $1.00/gallon more than regular.
This is a MAJOR problem - we'll get hit on the back end with prices going up for everything due to delivery costs."

Diesel is cheaper to produce than gas also, fact is people can reduce consumption with gas which the oil companies can react to by lowering prices. Diesel on the other hand is a given, OTR truckers have to buy it no matter what, however high it is. Oil companies just moved their profit margin from one column to the other is all. Can't have all of us running out and buying those highbreds now can they? Got to make sure soccer mom can afford the next Suburban instead of a Preo(?)

[onja]

Here in AZ it's about 2.89. It had been a good deal higher.

[jec41]

You can check the oil price 24 hrs. a day on Bloomberg. Gas prices usually trail oil prices 3-4 days. On Monday oil had dropped to nearly $59 a barrel. This morning it was back up to ~$63 s barrel. Gas prices will began to rise again in 3-4 days. If you want to know what gas will be check the price of oil/barrel.

[onja]

X that. It's gone down to about 2.50.

[Gaffer]

Like good ole Tom Daschle, "they are deeply saddened."

[deadmenvote]

It will make front page when it hit,s $2,000 a gallon, Hoops, I bad. I meant $2.00

[ravingnutter]

Because it is not something they can "blame on Bush". In reality, Bush had nothing to do with the price hike but they blamed him anyway. Given that...after blaming him for the hike, it would seem logical that they would have to credit him for the downturn in price, but then that would mean they would have to be fair, now wouldn't it...

[A message]

Let see as a gas jockey in the early 80's I saw gas go up to $1.85. Here we are 20 years later and this report says gas prices are $2.25. Wow a 40 cent increase in 20 years.

The cost of bread has gone up more in the past 20 years than the current price of gas.

IMO the current 40 cent increase from 20 years ago is pretty darn reasonable.

[Alberta's Child]

I suspect that diesel prices remain high because the large volume of diesel contract sales makes the "turn-around" time for price swings much longer. Most of the major trucking companies were able to endure the spike in fuel prices because their diesel fuel had already been purchased months ago at lower prices. When the prices went up, fuel producers had to sell a lot of their product at very small margins on these contract sales, so they tend to keep their prices high to "recover" their earlier losses.

If I bought a contract for 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel last year for $1.75 per gallon, that price may have seemed high at the time. But if the price rose to $2.75 this year and it cost someone $2.00 to produce it, then I was making out like a bandit.

[andy58-in-nh]

Actually, it's a tax problem and a supply problem. NC's state tax on gaoline is 24.9 cents, which places it about in the middle of most states. But combine that with a 27.1 cent per gallon excise tax, plus Federal taxes, plus a lack of nearby refineries (the nearest significant ones are in Ohio and PA), and the result is higher-than-average gasoline prices. There's also a seasonal factor at work here - many refineries in the North and East have already shifted over to home heating fuel produciton rather than gasoline.

[RBroadfoot]

Clearly it's a conspiracy between the Bush Administration, greedy corporate interests (Big Oil and the auto manufacturers) and the rightwing American media to keep Americans hooked on SUVs.

Of course, I have no evidence of this, but its the only explanation that fits with the lunatic left worldview.

[River_Wrangler]

Actually, it's a tax problem and a supply problem. NC's state tax on gaoline is 24.9 cents, which places it about in the middle of most states. But combine that with a 27.1 cent per gallon excise tax, plus Federal taxes, plus a lack of nearby refineries (the nearest significant ones are in Ohio and PA),

Sounds logical and would have been a few years ago when price was dependent on cost. Gasoline Tax in Texas is fairly low comparatively speaking, and we have the majority of refining capacity in the area (Houston) but this morning on the way to work I saw prices at the local independent at $2.50 up to Shell at $2.80 and Chevron at $2.69. I guess we pay more because they can get it. Oh well, free market will correct one way or the other, if government will let it.

[TheSpottedOwl]

It's dropped about .20 a gallon in the last couple of weeks. Frankly I'm shocked.

[USS Alaska]

It's only six cents a gallon in Iraq. How can that be, I thought we invaded so we can get their oil. The Bush administration had no plan to get the cheap oil out of Iraq. We kicked sadman's butt and didn't get no stincking, cheap oil. S/off