Gas prices at ~$2.00 a gallon may be a good thing

[SPasse]

Hi All,

Gas prices at ~$2.00 a gallon may be a good thing for the US.

Our congress doesn’t seem to have the political will (backbone) to legislate the encouragement of alternative energy so maybe we have to let market forces drive this.

$2.00 gas is still “cheap” by world standards and probably not an “economy killer” either as adjusted for inflation, gas was actually higher in the eighties.

Regards,

Scott

[Reefland]

I wondered when this thread would pop up.

Currently in Louisville, KY and surrounding areas gas is ranging from $2.02 - $2.20 per gallong for 87 octane and 4 weeks ago is was $1.80 per gallon. Now what in the world drives the gas prices so high in such a short period of time...

I'm going to get me a Segway and ride to work. Oh wait, at 60 miles each way it would take me 5 hours one way at 12mph. Sigh...

[Ninong]

$2.00/gal is not bad at all but in some places in California it is already above $3.00/gal, which is still not bad compared to many European countries.

When I was a teenager, it was 29 cents a gallon but every now and then they would have price wars and you could find it as cheap as 23 cents a gallon. Of course everything was cheaper then. I won't bore you with the details.


P.S. -- Adjusted for inflation, the price of gas in California has now caught up with the price in the early 1980's. It has reached $3.15/gallon in some places there!

[Reefland]

My grandmother used to tell stories about going to the movies, taking a bus back and forth and getting popcorn and a drink for a quarter.

[Ninong]

My grandmother used to tell stories about going to the movies, taking a bus back and forth and getting popcorn and a drink for a quarter.

Busses were a nickel. We preferred to walk and use the nickel to buy a bag of popcorn.

Admission to the movies was 9 cents for children and 25 cents for adults, except at the largest downtown theatres where it was 25 cents for children and 50 cents for adults. (P.S. -- Haircuts were 25 cents for children and 75 cents for adults!)

Coffee was a nickel a cup and bottled soft drinks from vending machines were a nickel. Both of those items doubled to a dime shortly after Castro took over Cuba. The excuse was that the price of sugar had skyrocketed.

When cigarettes were first sold in vending machines, you put in your quarter and the pack of cigarettes came out with three pennies inside the celophane on the side of the pack. That was your change. My father smoked and we sometimes ran down to the corner bar to buy his cigarettes. That's why the cigarette vending machine was right next to the entrance. So little kids could buy cigarettes. Little kids (boys) could go into bars, too, but only with your daddy. No self-respecting woman would ever set foot in a neighborhood bar in those days, just as no self-respecting woman wore slacks. The wearing of slacks sort of changed during the war -- WWII. That's when women started working after marriage, too. When I was little, any married woman with children who worked outside the home was considered an unfit mother.

If you didn't have your daddy with you, you went to the side window of the neighborhood bar and stood on the step stool and knocked. They would sell you anything you wanted as long as you told them it was for your daddy. I used to get fried shrimp and fried catfish poboys and a couple bottles of Jax beer. That was when I was about 7 years old! The beer was for my dad. The beer was 17 cents a bottle and the poboys were 25 cents each.

[Reefland]

Gosh I couldn't imagine those kind of prices...

[Ninong]

Gosh I couldn't imagine those kind of prices...

That's because you're just a kid!

[Reefland]

[drlowz]

If you ask me its silly. In Jan of this year Gas was around 33 dollars a barrel. Now in just 3 months time it has risen to approx 53.50 a barrel.

Now I say DRILL in Alaska and the polar bears will get over it!!

[SPasse]

Hi All,

Right now, I suspect that the speculators are contributing to the price of a barrel of oil.

The big “new” factor is China coming on line as a huge consumer.

So long term, I don’t see oil coming down very much.

2:00 dollar a gallon gas is causing a lot more domestic production. Driving through Oklahoma, Kansas, and eastern Colorado, I don’t ever recall seeing so many oil wells.

I remember when I could get on the local bus with a 22 cal. rifle and ride to the edge of town and shoot prairie dogs and magpies. Occasionally the buss driver (if he didn’t recognize me) would caution me to “be careful”

Regards,

Scott

[Ninong]

I think we will see $60 a barrel oil by early this summer. We may see $75 a barrel oil by sometime next summer.

China and India are driving demand. Russia's oil industry is in turmoil right now and you can forget about Iraq for the next ten years at least. Who would want to invest any money there given the lack of political stability?

The dollar is falling due to our balance of trade deficits and our obscene budget deficits. OPEC will allow prices to rise to make up for the falling dollar. In fact, OPEC has very little control of the price right now anyway.

What will we see first? $100 a barrel oil or $1000 an oz. gold? I think we will see both within the next five years.

[schrocat]

Bermuda!!

8 bucks a gallon now.
A decade or so ago it was 5.

Lots of mopeds!!!
Lots!

[Poseidon]

GM said they made a BREAKTHROUGH in fuel cells... I think it was promo crap! Why would GM want an alternate fuel source? They sure don't want to have to spend money on developing new engines to run on these fuel cells.... Heck at the plant where I work, GM has cut all kinds of OT to save money. If they can't pay OT, how are they going to pay for large scale R&D and then a LARGE scale retooling? I don't think the innovations are going to be coming from our side of the pond, I think it will come from Japan or even BMW, they have a V12 that can run on either H2 OR Gasoline.

As far as Iraq is concerned, I say we take what oil we need, we sure have PAID for it!!

[SPasse]

Ninong,

One of Osama’s famous quotes is that oil should be $100 dollars a barrel…

It would be ironic if that is how it got there…

But realistically $100 a barrel oil would drive demand/price back down.

Regards,

Scott

[pisomojado]

Thought I would chime in, my family owns a chain of gas stations in the middle of nowhere South Dakota/Wyoming/Nebraska. If anybody ever wonders what the breakdown of gas costs for your car are...

Price we pay at the bulkplant: Currently $1.67
Freight costs from bulkpant to store: $.04
Taxes you pay to Federal Gov: $.184
Taxes you pay to State gov:here in SD its $.17
Our markup depends on the town: $.06-.14
Total: $2.219


and you will never see $100 a barrel oil. There is a prototype plant currently running in the US and a few in Europe that produce oil from organic material, such as garbage, farm byproducts, etc. They can churn out at $80/barrel atm. WHEN, not IF oil gets crazy, we will be prepared

[Papa Doug]

It would be sooooooooo nice to purchase gas at $2/gal. again. We just passed the 92.7 cents per litre yesterday. :eek3:

Thats over $4/gal. ;;

[zhenya]

Well, as of November of this year the price in NJ for gasoline will be $1.05 higher, so we could pay for the debt that out short-lived Governor McPeevy put us in. It looks like I will have to move somewhere else soon....

[almostdiva]

Well, as of November of this year the price in NJ for gasoline will be $1.05 higher, so we could pay for the debt that out short-lived Governor McPeevy put us in. It looks like I will have to move somewhere else soon....

NO WAY???!! How did I miss THAT

I REGULARLY go across the bridge to stations in S. Jersey for gas. Diesel right now (I drive a diesel VW Beetle) in PA near my house/office is $2.45 give or take 5 cents depending on where you go. In Jersey, it is only around $2.09. In a 14/4 gallon tank, that adds up.

I long for the days when diesel was available for $1.30 (only last spring...)

[zhenya]

NO WAY???!! How did I miss THAT

I REGULARLY go across the bridge to stations in S. Jersey for gas. Diesel right now (I drive a diesel VW Beetle) in PA near my house/office is $2.45 give or take 5 cents depending on where you go. In Jersey, it is only around $2.09. In a 14/4 gallon tank, that adds up.

I long for the days when diesel was available for $1.30 (only last spring...)

It's true, Rebecca... They decided and didn't even asked me if I agree or not.

I think they knew I'd say NO.

[almostdiva]

It's true, Rebecca... They decided and didn't even asked me if I agree or not.

I think they knew I'd say NO.

They didn't ask me, either. I would have AGREED.