US retail gasoline price hits record $2.37/gallon (+ 7.7 cents in 1 week)

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N08351959.htm

US retail gasoline price hits record $2.37/gallon

WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. average retail gasoline price hit a new record high on Monday, rising 7.7 cents over the last week to $2.37 a gallon, the government said.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline is up 49 cents from a year ago, surpassing the old record of $2.33 set on July 11, according to a survey of service stations conducted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Rising pump costs reflect record prices for crude oil, which climbed to a record $64 a barrel on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price for crude oil accounts for about half the cost of making gasoline.

<</SNIP>>

[rodeodance]

1. oh but the enegy bill is now signed. things will change.

te he.

[wli]

3. of course; the prices will double or more

[Mr_Spock]

30. True, they will go up more as MTBE is eliminated.

I read an article at the Methanol Institute today stating that gasoline could go up $0.09 per gallon because no protection from law suits was in the Energy Bill. I have no sympathy. Where is the emphasis on REAL alternate fuels?

[Delphinus]

57. Heard that the other day too.

There is no real leadership in this country - if there were, we would have continued what Carter started. I can remember when businesses closed on Sunday; when only every other light in the store was on; etc. I know there was rationing - but that, for some reason, I can't remember. Probably too painful to recall.

[still_one]

2. In northern California the unleaded regular

is anywhere from 2.55 to 2.65

[stopbush]

4. 2.67 at Shell in Fresno n/t

[hadrons]

5. same in NYC ....

[Ernesto]

6. try $3.09 for diesel in Nor Cal

The "story" is that a Cheveron in So Cal is down because of repairs.

[still_one]

11. wow, the truck drivers must be hurting

[Imagevision]

14. Trucking firms to just pass the cost of petro onto consumers

[still_one]

22. but but but, they said there is no inflation

[lostinacause]

27. If I'm not mistake gas prices are not included in inflation because of

their volatility.

[still_one]

41. Maybe because it would reflect what the real inflation is

[lostinacause]

47. The problem is that the volatility would make measure of inflation,

expecially in the short term meaningless as the number would be dependent on the price of oil (whether it increases or decreases).

[Ernesto]

39. Make that "independent" truckers must be hurting

For some reason me thinks that chimpco's tranaportation bill had some sugar (corporate welfare) built in to protect his base.

[Delphinus]

58. Ditto NE Indiana n/t

[Nightwing]

7. $2.49 per gallon in Ohio

Just got back from the pump and that's for regular unleaded. Disgusting just doesnt quite cut it when describing these price gougers.

[Roland99]

8. Middle America is finally feeling what the coasts have been feeling.

[infinitehangover]

23. "The US is catching up to the global price"

[Tesla]

33. $2.54 in Dayton today!!

[Eurobabe]

9. Wide disparity between gas stations in Cincy

In one neighborhood last week it was $2.15 -- down the road in Repuke land it was $2.29.

Today, I literally saw Kroger gouging (changing) price signs to $2.49 REG., while up the road a 1/4 mile reg. was still $2.27.

I paid $2.49 for premium today, and thought that was cheap.

Here we go! WWWHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Thanks BU$H you fucking lame ass idiot.

[girl gone mad]

24. Same thing here in North Dallas..

I pulled into a station then saw regular was 2.39. I left and found another less than half a mile down the road selling regular for 2.27.

I have a creeping suspicion that it's about to get a whole lot worse.

[NEOBuckeye]

44. Get ready for $4.00+ per gallon -- Peak Oil seems to have arrived

And even that is just for starters.

[unrepuke]

10. $2.599 Saturday Reg / Unl. L.A. burb

So - why is it more on the coasts? This is where it comes in. Long Beach - it gets refined here, and trucked inland, doesn't it? So why is it cheaper after trucking it 1200 miles?
:shrug:

[malachi]

12. Where are the Democrats on this issue? When Billy C. was pres

the repukes howled with indignation when gas went up a few pennies about how the Clinton economy was in shambles.

[maxsolomon]

13. the dems are keeping their heads down

playing it safe. they have nothing to gain from sticking their heads into the issue, demanding that bush do "something". there's really no way to stop "the markets" from raising the price until consumption falls off. of course, he could release oil from the strategic reserve, or at least threaten to do so.

although i have heating oil & am dreading the winter, i want it to keep climbing. $3/gallon in all red states will make me so fucking happy. you voted for it, fuckers.

[phantom power]

17. they could have voted against this pathetic bill, as a party.

[maxsolomon]

37. true that

but discipline is not their forte, is it?

they're willing to horse trade if it gets them pork for their home districts. patty murray got seattle 200 million for our waterfront. she had to pay for that somehow.

[Nay]

34. God help me, Max, I feel the same way. You voted for it, idiots, now

you got it. I hope every freeper in his goddamn pickup, on his 30-mile commute to work, grinds his teeth the whole time.

[nookiemonster]

54. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. A little tidbit from 2000.

GOP lawmakers blame Clinton administration for high prices at the pump

June 23, 2000
Web posted at: 4:34 PM EDT (2034 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Republicans called Friday on the Environmental Protection Agency to lift cleaner fuel requirements in places hit hardest with rising gasoline prices and charged that the Clinton administration has long neglected to implement a national energy policy.

See more here. Unfuckingbelievable. (Sorry, it's CNN)

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/06/23/gas.prices/

[Imagevision]

15. How much more per year will it cost you to go to work???

[DFWJock]

16. We're

turning the corner on gas prices.

[UpInArms]

18. related: Retail gasoline prices hit record $2.41: DOE

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38572.7488423148-840171088&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&property=symb&value=&categories=&

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Average U.S. retail gasoline prices jumped 7.5 cents last week to a record $2.41 a gallon, the Energy Department said Monday. The average price of regular gasoline increased 7.8 cents to $2.368, while premium grade gas cost $2.56, up 7 cents. Average prices soared above $2.60 a gallon in the West Coast region, while prices breached $2.30 a gallon for the first time in the Gulf Coast states.

[Deja Q]

19. 2.499 in MN. It's only going to get worse; we know the score.

[BiggJawn]

20. $2.37? that's ALL???

We got $2.40 here. It's all over the map, I've seen it as low as $2.21, and as high as $2.40 over the weekend.

And remember that quote from an oil industry spokesman the other week?

"It's almost embarrassing, the record profits we made last quarter..."

[sintax]

21. Mass movement demanding mass transportation

is the only solution. Gas prices have been kept artificially low for years and the US motorist has been gluttonous with petrol consumption. Problem is GM and others cannibalized public transport.

Global Warming

Biggest user of fuel in world is US military

US Navy uses 16% of worlds diesel fuel.

[progressive_realist]

25. Everyone seems to overlook that factor

Linking our military needs with our petroleum needs.

For anyone who wonders why the US would find it worthwhile to go to war over control of oil resources, realize that our multi-trillion dollar military is virtually useless without huge amounts of diesel, jet fuel, etc.

[sintax]

28. Abrams Tank gets FOUR GALLONS to the MILE!

F-16 uses more fuel in one hours flight than US Motorist uses in two years driving.

Aircraft carrier uses 150,000 gallons of fuel per day.

Easy to imagine who is the worlds greatest creator of greenhouse gasses.

[lovuian]

36. Great point and I'll add more taxes are paid from gas

Its the Bush's way of replenishing the treasury for more theft!!!

[infinitehangover]

26. The Bus Revolution!

[drumz4hire]

31. I wish I could utilize mass transportation...

but I am what you might call one of the "rural poor"...

Public transportation is non-existant, and a simple trip
to the store for milk is a 24 mile round-trip.

I'd like to move closer to town, but I can't afford to
move right now.

Guess I'll just have to take being anally raped by
Bushes oil tycoon buddies for a while longer. :mad:

[NEOBuckeye]

46. GM, Ford, Rockefeller's National City Bank and Firestone Rubber & Tire

They were the leading corporate powers behind the demolition of our passenger trains and railways.

[smoogatz]

29. Guess we decided not to jawbone the Saudis.

Or maybe we done already jawboned their asses, and it din't work. Or maybe all that stuff about jawboning was just a load of horse puckey. Nahhh...

[Jamison]

32. Here in St. Louis

it's still relatively "cheap" at $2.24/gal. That could change (a lot) overnight though.

[cliss]

35. That's not so bad.....

Guess what the price of gas is in Sweden?

It's 11 Sw. Crowns to the liter = which equals $6.23 per gallon. We're not quite there, folks.

[DamnYank]

38. But it's not an accurate comparison

Gas may cost a lot more in Sweden and the rest of Europe, but the bulk of it is in taxes used directly to fund mass transit and other programs for the public benefit, such as universal health care.

I'd gladly pay $6.00 a gallon if I also had decent, frequent, and reliable public transit and access to health care that won't disappear if I lose my job tomorrow.

[nookiemonster]

55. Bingo!

While I acknowledge that Europeans pay much more than we do for gasoline, the poster brings up a good point.

Isn't the cost of socialized programs figured into the cost of gas? If so, I would have absolutely no problem paying quite a bit more in the US to sustain these programs (if we had them).

Sorry, I have no hard evidence to back this up. Does it work this way in Europe??

[NeoConsSuck]

40. Love my Del Sol!!

and here's how to bust a repuke's balls:

I drive into a service station with a half tank of fuel (10 gallon tank). Of course, I search out a huge SUV to pump next to. Then I put my 5 gallons in, smile at the SUV owner who is *still* pumping away, and pull away!! LOL!

[AllieB]

42. It's 2.59/gallon here. Thank God for the commuter rail.

[Gregorian]

43. Gee, pretty soon gas will be so valuable, wars will be fought over it.

Oh. Maybe $5 per gallon isn't so much after all. Especially considering it's melting the icecaps.

[mhr]

45. 2.39 in Upstate, NY

eom

[Anywho6]

48. Read in Sunday's Sac Bee...

...that truckers agree that $3.20+ for a gallon of diesel will cause many of them to look for other jobs. Just think of how staggering something like that could be to the economy. This is huge. And Bush is on vacation...

[Fovea]

50. Here is the 2003 figure from Truck.net

"Trucks move nearly 70 percent of the value of goods shipped by all freight modes in the U.S., and are the sole supplier of goods to more than 80 percent of communities in the U.S."

It is too late to avoid shortfalls if fuel hits $4/gal.
We need to rebuild our rail system starting 5 years ago.
Why won't our governement take this seriously?

Because they are being paid not to.

[kurtyboy]

49. I paid $2.69/gal to fill up today in Mount Vernon, WA

I had bypassed a station in Bellingham that had reg unleaded for 2.79. Their premium was listed at 2.99.

36 bucks and change to fill up my '98 Tacoma--

My wife and I just took a short raod trip in her car. The '93 Camry got just over 30 MPG. Why does a twelve year old Camry perform better than the '06 Camrys when it comes to mileage? We've considered a new prius, but the numbers (finance charges, interest, etc.) still don't pencil out, even if we could get one.

It just feels like the deck is stacked against us.

[muriel_volestrangler]

51. Also at record in the UK

Catalist, which monitors prices, says the average for unleaded is 90.2p a litre, and just under 94p for diesel.

The increase has been attributed to the soaring cost of oil, which hit a record high amid security fears in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer.
...
But Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, told the BBC that increased supplies would force the price of fuel down again.

"I think it's quite likely that prices will continue to rise in the short and medium term - by that I mean weeks and months," said Mr Cable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4133430.stm

(Cable used to be chief economist for Shell before he became an MP, so he does know more about this than most; still, I wish I shared his optimism).

90.2p/litre = $6.09 per US gallon.

[pinniped]

52. I guess the Saudis really did boost production.

The differences can really be seen at the pump.

Thanks, Saudis!

[rman]

53. Oil is down from $64.15 to $63.70 ; our worries are over

:)

[BedRock]

56. This makes me feel soooo

much better for putting down a deposit for a Honda Insight! Don't know when the delivery will be, but one thing for sure, with up to 70mpg I will passionately LOVE laughing my ass off and singing "What a Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood" at the fuel pumps.

Getting real tired of feeding the coffers of Saudi Arabia (etc), having our men and women die for oil, digging up our wilderness, shitting in our air, and giving our oil companies massive profits.

OK, I don't care if it doesn't have that much romp, or if it is funny looking. I get to say neener-neener-neener.

So, if gas is so frigging expensive thanks to OPEC, why are the oil companies showing such big, BIG profits????

[Strelnikov_]

59. Because Petroleum Is A Fungible Commodity

Once demand outstrips supply for a price inelastic commodity, as it is now, pricing becomes extremely volatile. Being a (somewhat) fungible commodity, oil produced by the seven sisters is sold for approximately the same price as that from state controlled OPEC producers. This, coupled with production costs that are not much higher than when petroleum was $20/bbl, leads to record profits.

[Demeter]

60. Try $2.55 for today (Tuesday)

If a barrel of oil goes up $2.00 (or 2/62 or 3.2%) why does a gallon of gasoline go up 4.2%? And aren't there 55 gallons in a barrel, or some such ratio?

[ellie]

61. I paid $2.44 a gallon

for regular in Toledo, OH last night.

[BiggJawn]

62. And now it's hit $2.50 on tuesday...I feel SO "European"...

And I will even more so this winter, riding a Moped in the snow, sitting in a freezing apartment, grousing and bitching about how the Communists could do a better job in the governament.....

[Ambrose]

63. Where are all the big mouths now?

They were all over Clinton but no one says anything to pResident Dumbass!