Gas Prices
The headlines say oil prices have fallen 15 percent this year. Gas station receipts tell a different story - the cost of filling 'er up has slipped from about $35 to $33. Big deal. The cost will probably drop further, but drivers shouldn't hope for a big windfall at the pump: there's a lot more that goes into gasoline prices than the current cost of crude oil. Besides taxes and the costs of refining, distributing and marketing, there are factors such as local competition among gas stations. Just as with other forms of retail, consumers see savings when one retailer lowers its price, and the others scramble to match it. "If gasoline costs me a dollar a gallon, and my competition down the street is selling it for 89 cents, my customer doesn't care what I paid for it," said Richard Oneslager, president of Balmar Petroleum, which operates 14 gas stations in Colorado.
Okay, no bashing of the local franchisees here. I worked for a local oil company in the C-Store side of the business 20 years ago here in Fort Wayne. You locals know the Lassus name well. There really IS no profit at the local level in the oil market; it's all at the top. Anyone ever involved with managing a gas station knows that the profits are all made via the "convenience" items that people purchase alongside their fuel. Hell, I used to order my checkout candy based strictly on profit margin. My top pick? Kraft carmels; they had a 44% markup back in the day!
Crude oil prices have fallen from about $61 to $51 a barrel this year on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but the price of gasoline on the side of the road has declined more slowly. The average price for a gallon of regular is down about 13 cents from $2.33 on Jan. 1 to $2.20 on Friday, a day after crude briefly fell below $50. A typical car holds 12 to 15 gallons, so if it's filled four times in a month, that's savings of less than $8 in a month - not even enough for that daily cup of coffee.
Prices here fell hard this week. The lowest I saw was $1.89 on Thursday, but the average seems to be hovering around $1.99 today. Even diesel (MY lifeblood) was available for $2.29 tax-exempt. I'm just relieved to see prices finally returning to saner levels; and I was wondering what prices have been like in YOUR area the last few days. Be it local, other parts of Indiana, or other states, what is the lowest price you have encountered for regular unleaded gasoline?
posted by John Good @ 9:35 PM
9 Comments:
Lowest I've seen so far is $1.95 in the Mishawaka/Osceola area. Makes your heart stop for a second seeing that after all this time!!
In early 2004, I pulled out of our new downtown Marathon when I saw that their diesel price was $2.01 per gallon. . .I can almost dream of that price now. . .
Did you know....
...That if you adjust for inflation, we are currenly paying less for gas now than in 1980?
Seriously, check it out:
http://www.randomuseless.info/gasprice/gasprice.html
I drive on diesel myself and it's between 2.35 and 2.45 in Richarson Tx.
I am embarrassed to say, I don't know. My little Scion hasn't needed gas for two weeks and still doesn't. But, I will look when I go out today. One thing that is curious, is why do gas prices go up when the oil companies even think their costs are going up and when their costs go down, the pump price doesn't drop immediately if at all.
Gas was about $1.87 in Toldeo, but they were raising the prices up to $2.03 on Friday. Around the Nepoleon / Defiance area one gas station had the price as $1.97 the other stations had it over $2.00. I tried to get gas at the $.97 place but they ran out just as I got to the pump. *sigh*
Today (Sunday) we paid $2.34 for regular unleaded in the Hill Country of Texas.
All those people who sold their soul to Dubya for that one-time $300 tax thing LOST every single penny of that money just in the rise of the cost of gasoline alone. A long time ago.
I was surprised to see that the cost of a gallon of gas where I fill up dropped a dime in the last week. It went from $2.29 to $2.19 so I saved a whole 9 cents this week. With everyone complaining about how the price of a barrel of oil has dropped, but not the price at the pump, they were worried that investigations into price gouging would start up again. Still I'm glad to save even a lousy 9 cents.
God Bless.
Andy - Those numbers are correct; do you remember the shock over the price at the time? I know you're a tad younger, but. . .
Fernando - About the same here. I'm still pissed that everytime gas drops, diesel usually doesn't by much (this last week or two has been an exception). And then when gas rises again, diesel rises anyway. . .
Mary - I'm not sure. I HAVE heard some commentary somewhere that attempted to explain it, but it's lost to me at the moment. If Andy's reading this, he may know more about it.
Parson - The prices fluctuate in some wierd ways. For no reason that I can comprehend, New Haven is generally cheaper than most of Fort Wayne. I didn't realize they were such a mecca of oil refining. . .;)
Hill - No shit RE the tax "refund". . .Shouldn't gas be cheaper down there since it doesn't have to travel as far, or is that point null due to the extent of our foreign imports?
Anon - I know. Isn't that sad? What's that save an average consumer per tank? A buck and a half?
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