Gasoline May Rise Above $5 a Gallon

[TomT]

Well, I do know one person who was, in fact, influenced by dropping gas prices... He was thinking of buying an EV but went with a conventional hybrid instead because of it.

This thread certainly has been quiet lately. Little wonder, with gas looking like it's headed under $3 I'm wondering why I bothered with all this EV stuff :lol

 

[greengate]

Sunoco and ConocoPhillips have idled refineries and may idle more this summer. This is due to differences in the price (cheaper) of locally available crude oil in other parts of the US.

Reminds me of the world is flat economics pitch and how resource availability impacts inelastic commodity prices. Another disturbing energy balance problem is California imports 25% of its electricity

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-23/gasoline-may-rise-above-4-a-gallon-as-northeast-plants-shut.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

edit 4 to 5 now that $4 for regular in California Bay Area (15 Feb 2012)

It should be $10 a gallon, heading toward $15 to get the masses out of their SUV's and trucks. To get them into EV's, don't you think?

 

[TomT]

Well, it depends on whether or not you want to destroy the U.S. economy in the process... People often lose sight of the fact that there is far more affected by fuel and petroleum prices than just what it costs Joe Average to buy a gallon of gas (though even that has a big ripple down affect)...

It should be $10 a gallon, heading toward $15 to get the masses out of their SUV's and trucks. To get them into EV's, don't you think?

 

[siai]

The market will dictate who buys what. Sure, fuel prices are dropping but we are starting to export refined products (like diesel). Don't expect big oil to give the US consumer a windfall from falling feedstock prices. Low energy costs impact everything and if you can reduce the cost of boiler fuel then electricity costs won't rise as fast. The efficiency differental of a battery electric car vs. a gasoline car will always be there. If more people weren't scared away from even trying electric by the media, sales might increase regardless of the fuel cost. There are a lot more reasons to lease or own a BEV then just the lower fuel cost.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

It should be $10 a gallon, heading toward $15 to get the masses out of their SUV's and trucks. To get them into EV's, don't you think?

I see people who I think would keep right on doing what they're doing at $20 a gallon seemingly unaffected. Meanwhile it's the single mom who just needs to get to work in her 10 year old corolla who really gets hosed.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Oh lordy, I can already here the building Crescendo of voices "just drive the Prius"

sounds like a blog topic

 

[ObjetDart]

It should be $10 a gallon, heading toward $15 to get the masses out of their SUV's and trucks. To get them into EV's, don't you think?

Or, it might just get them into smaller, more fuel efficient ICE cars. Look at Europe, gas is close to $10/gallon there now. I spent a week driving in France back in August and holy crap, the traffic! Everyone still drives, they just drive smaller cars. SUVs and trucks are almost non-existent.

 

[ObjetDart]

What I do lose sleep over is the cost of electricity going up.

I don't worry much about that. This is what I worry about more:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...d-concerns-on-privacy-cost/?intcmp=latestnews

 

[AndyH]

Well, it depends on whether or not you want to destroy the U.S. economy in the process... People often lose sight of the fact that there is far more affected by fuel and petroleum prices than just what it costs Joe Average to buy a gallon of gas (though even that has a big ripple down affect)...

It should be $10 a gallon, heading toward $15 to get the masses out of their SUV's and trucks. To get them into EV's, don't you think?

The US economy and her citizens are already paying at least $10 for a gallon of gasoline.

If the price of a gallon of gas magically jumped to $9.999 overnight along with an instant deletion of the $10-$52 billion in annual subsidies to the oil industry, I'll bet our economy would improve overall, not tank as you suggest.

IMF
http://www.iowaenergycenter.org/2013/03/what-is-the-true-cost-of-gasoline/

http://priceofoil.org/campaigns/separate-oil-and-state/ending-us-fossil-fuel-subsidies/

 

[Berlino]

It should be $10 a gallon, heading toward $15 to get the masses out of their SUV's and trucks. To get them into EV's, don't you think?

Or, it might just get them into smaller, more fuel efficient ICE cars. Look at Europe, gas is about $10/gallon there now. I spent a week driving in France back in August and holy crap, the traffic! Everyone still drives, they just drive smaller cars. SUVs and trucks are almost non-existent.

It's a bit like that in Canada. Gas is about $4.70 a gallon now and was as high $5.35/gallon during labor day weekend.

You see more smaller cars on the road from the major manufacturers than in the USA, and companies making mostly compacts like Kia have a larger market share than in the USA.

There aren't many EVs in circulation, but that will change immediately if CARB-ZEV ever comes to the major provinces.

(There are certainly EVs all over the place in Norway where laws favor them.)

 

[TomT]

Yep, and I also believe in the tooth fairy and expect to win the Irish Sweepstakes... Now then, back to reality...

along with an instant deletion of the $10-$52 billion in annual subsidies to the oil industry, I'll bet our economy would improve overall, not tank as you suggest.

 

[AndyH]

Yep, and I also believe in the tooth fairy and expect to win the Irish Sweepstakes... Now then, back to reality...

along with an instant deletion of the $10-$52 billion in annual subsidies to the oil industry, I'll bet our economy would improve overall, not tank as you suggest.

Maybe you should put on a uniform and spend some quality time in a desert for a few months. It might provide a useful attitude adjustment...

The fact remains that We the People are already paying well more than the sticker price for a gallon of gas - the externalities are simply moved about using accounting shell games. We pay for each gallon of gasoline four times: we pay at the pump, we pay for the effects of pollution, we pay for military support, and we subsidize the industry.

Paying four times for the same commodity while also fighting to maintain that 'right' should probably be a listed cognitive disorder.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

We pay for each gallon of gasoline four times: we pay at the pump, we pay for the effects of pollution, we pay for military support, and we subsidize the industry.

#5: You also had to pay income tax on the money you earned to pay at the pump, although arguably that is included because alternative uses of that money would also require paying the tax.

 

[TomT]

Since you have no idea what I may or may not have done in my life, I'm simply going to ignore your comment as being from someone socially inept and move on without any further repartee with you.

Maybe you should put on a uniform and spend some quality time in a desert for a few months. It might provide a useful attitude adjustment... (

 

[AndyH]

Since you have no idea what I may or may not have done in my life, I'm simply going to ignore your comment as being from someone socially inept and move on without any further repartee with you.

It doesn't matter what you might or might not have done. All I have to go on is what you 'say' - and based on that, and having first-hand experience with others that express themselves as you do, that a dose of reality would be useful. Good luck with your belief system - you've certainly got the right to that. Welcome to the ignore list, Tom. So long.

Edit... Here Tom - this'll save you some jet lag. And you won't need any 'franken-shots' for diseases you might not have heard of.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6_PRzP0R88[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOWffhbEn60[/youtube]

 

[AndyH]

It should be $10 a gallon, heading toward $15 to get the masses out of their SUV's and trucks. To get them into EV's, don't you think?

I see people who I think would keep right on doing what they're doing at $20 a gallon seemingly unaffected. Meanwhile it's the single mom who just needs to get to work in her 10 year old corolla who really gets hosed.

Bingo. I've friends that bring in ~$20K/month and others that are making airplane parts for $12/hour and I'll guarantee you the former won't think twice about jumping in the F350 to drive 1/2 way across the country for a trade show even with $10/gallon diesel. The folks making the airplane parts, however, start diverting food and rent money into the tank at $4/gallon so they can get back and forth to work.

edit... This subject has been on my mind for a couple of years and I think it needs an additional comment here. An additional lesson learned from the folks in the above paragraph (and others) is that not only are the two groups (20K/mo VS. 2K/mo) essentially living in separate worlds, but they cannot talk with each other. The 2K/mo folks have no idea what it's like to have an order of magnitude more cash flow, while the 20K/mo folks either have never been at the 2k/mo level or have certainly not been there 'recently'. These groups simply have no common points of reference. I've even seen signs of this disconnect among members of this forum. (Unfortunately, most of my attempts to highlight the disconnect in an attempt to bridge the gap have fallen flat.) I don't yet know how to fix this problem.
.../edit

Tom's correct if he's suggesting that there's a correlation between the cost of OIL and the state of our economy, as the last spike shocked our economy - the financial/housing melt-down was an aftershock. But there's plenty we can do to decouple our economy from oil and gasoline prices.

It's a pretty nasty situation we've gotten ourselves into, that's for sure.

 

[Reddy]

I know this is an old thread, but it seems the most appropriate for this:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101752227
Is this the most recent catalyst that will propel gasoline prices back over $4/gal and toward $5/gal?

 

[wbleafguy]

Well, my local Chevron was at $6.20 today (North Vancouver, $$1.52/litre $CAD; 3.78litre/gal, and $CAD->$USD is $1.08 today).

So, I'd be happy if it were "only" $5/gal.. at least for another week until I get my new 2015 Leaf SL

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I hope nobody has long term plans for oil from Iraq.

 

[MikeinDenver]

Time for the LEAF to shine even more.