$1.329

[ziggy29]

That was my cost per gallon to fill up today, at a place in Marble Falls, TX.

By my reckoning, that means a drop of more than 2/3 from its peak in five months.

Makes the tanking of the stock market look piddly in comparison...

 

[REWahoo]

Might be a good time for you to get back into USO...

 

[ziggy29]

Might be a good time for you to get back into USO...

That would be an express elevator down to 99 cents...

 

[unclemick]

Hmmm - 1.32 and 9 yesterday - 1.49 today.

The low is in?? Buy! Buy buy!

Buy what?

heh heh heh - . I've heard the market climbs a wall of worry - not er gas.

 

[Poundkey]

Marble Falls.....what a beautiful area that is. Need to get down that way more often. $1.42 here in a little hardscrabble town called Ennis.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Wonder if the US is refilling the strategic reserve.

 

[mickeyd]

$1.28 just outside of Devine, TX.

 

[ejman]

Wonder if the US is refilling the strategic reserve.

Well, not now of course! we only pump into the strategic reserve when gas is north of $4 you know we got to help the poor little Exxons of the world!

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Well, not now of course! we only pump into the strategic reserve when gas is north of $4 you know we got to help the poor little Exxons of the world!

Oh I thought the US gov might practice LBYM.

 

[Goonie]

Paid $1.38 today at our local BP-Amoco ~80 miles west-southwest of Chicago....down 4¢ since yesterday.

 

[laurence]

$1.65 here in San Diego - we paid over $4.50 at the peak, so all my coworkers have stopped logging into their retirement statements and leave gas reciepts on the desk to make them feel better!

I hear it's essentially at the bottom, and we'll probably bump up against $2.00 soon. While major chains in SD have continued to lower their prices, the small independents have stopped and some are inching back up.

 

[Dawg52]

I filled up my Trailblazer just the other day for around $22. Amazing. I saw $1.35 yesterday when I was out and about. Another amazing thing, I bought some Chevron stock several weeks ago when oil was around $80 or so a barrel. The stock suffered as oil dropped but has slowly climbed back up to my average cost. Wish all my other stocks were holding as well as this one.

 

[ERD50]

Well, not now of course! we only pump into the strategic reserve when gas is north of $4 you know we got to help the poor little Exxons of the world!

The only problem with that statement is that it appears to be wrong.

Do you have anything to back it up? Here's a few to the contrary:

http://inflationdata.com/inflation/images/charts/Oil/Inflation_Adj_Oil_Prices_Chart.htm

DOE - Fossil Energy: Filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - the Royalty in Kind Initiative

Direct purchases of crude oil were suspended by the Clinton Administration in 1994 due to the federal budget deficit and, in fiscal years 1996 and 1997, approximately 28 million barrels of oil were sold for deficit reduction purposes.

....

In February 1999, the Clinton Administration announced a new plan to resume fill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

and then they have a string of references to fills during the Bush admin. I seem to remember a lot of criticism of filling the reserves when gas hit the 'outrageous' price of $2.00 or thereabouts.

I don't recall gas being north of $4 in most of those times. Are you talking about US gas prices?

Oh I thought the US gov might practice LBYM.

Well, if you look at that chart, it appears that the previous admin did a Buy High, Sell Low method... Oil was lower (esp after adjusted for inflation) in 1996 and 1997 than it was when the oil was being bought to fill it. In fact, it looks like he hit the lows just about 'perfectly'. Would have been a good time to buy, not sell. I thought Hillary was a commodities expert, Bill should have consulted her! So, did that really help 'reduce the deficit', when we had to buy it back at higher prices? I guess it depends on your accounting method, but I'd say not.

Since I don't really expect the govt to be any better at market timing than I am, I think they should just do a DCA to bring the reserves to whatever level is actually needed (which I don't have a clue on). That could be modified to avoid fills during what might be seen as clear-cut short term increases, like weather related or something.


-ERD50

 

[ejman]

The only problem with that statement is that it appears to be wrong.

Do you have anything to back it up?

-ERD50

On May 17, 2008 The Bush administration stoped buying into the Reserve after being forced to do so by an overwhelming vote in congress. (He argued strenuously that we should continue to ad to the reserves regardless of price. Selective data mining (which I just did) is a lot of fun ain't it?

 

[audreyh1]

It's great to see the Diesel fuel prices back down to below where they were before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. That infamous event coincided exactly with our house sale close and riding off into the sunset in our motorhome.

I still remember grumbling about Diesel at $2.25 at a pricier truck stop in April of 2005. LOL! Little did I know what was coming!

Audrey

 

[mickeyd]

It's great to see the Diesel fuel prices back down to below where they were before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

I have never had a vehicle that required diesel fuel, but I seem to recall that prices for diesel used to be less that reqular gasoline. Sometime along the way it changed to always costing more at the pump. What was the reason that this changed?

 

[Rustward]

. . . What was the reason that this changed?

I think it is related to the transition to low-sulfur diesel.

 

[USK Coastie]

So a rhetorical question or two for all. Will Congress give big oil a bailout because their obscene profits have dropped? And will Congress still proceed rapidly with a "Real Energy Plan". I'm thinkin no on both counts.

 

[Leonidas]

I have never had a vehicle that required diesel fuel, but I seem to recall that prices for diesel used to be less that reqular gasoline. Sometime along the way it changed to always costing more at the pump. What was the reason that this changed?

I had a diesel back in the 80's and fuel was usually ten cents cheaper than regular gasoline. Sometimes, during the winter months, it would go up and cost as much, or more than gas - probably something to do with changing refinery production to heating oil for homes. But you're right, I haven't seen diesel cheaper than gasoline for a long time.

I do know that demand for diesel in Europe has grown a lot in the last decade or so, and I recall some interviews in which refiner CEOs said they were shipping as much diesel to Europe as they could. I don't have a clue what diesel costs in Europe, but I bet if the demand was that heavy that the refiners were getting a nice profit out of it. A friend who does business in India said that they have tons of diesel fueled vehicles there as well. Why sell it in America when you can make a killing overseas? And since there is less of it here, the demand would drive up domestic prices as well.

Diesel used to cost less than gasoline to refine, but with the mandatory changeover to low sulfur fuel I would imagine that the refineries are incurring a few billion in refitting.

And the government taxes diesel at a higher rate as well.