Where'd you find $2.22? I've been paying $2.39-2.59 depending on where exactly I am. But it's been in this range for about the past 8 months.Glad I have 2 diesel cars, filled up for $2.22 and get nearly 40mpg combined city/hwy.
Seems quite coincidental that whenever prices seem to get reasonably low, some crisis occurs that jacks the price up about $.80 / gal.
Amazing, huh?
Prices in Lafayette were $2.59 p/gal at 8:00am today. By 5:00pm the same station had $2.99 on the signage.
"Never let a crisis go to waste..."
-Eric Holder
Sad but true.Perfect storm. There are not enough refineries, the EPA needs at minimum to be removed from dictating such things as essentially custom fuel blends by specific location, the oil companies will simultaneously argue that a drop in oil prices does not necessarily make a big difference but a rise in oil prices does, and will also raise prices over the 'crisis' if the drunk who lives two blocks from the refinery pisses his pants.
On the other hand, I can excuse the increase that effective raises the price of the fuel in the tank at that station. That is on the station owner and he is going to get hit with a serious loss when he reloads if he doesn't raise prices immediately.
What I do have a problem with there is that given the nationality of most station owners, it is not possible for any of us to compete with someone who doesn't pay income tax like the rest of us, can run out his exemption, transfer the station to another incoming relative who can then run out his exemption, the business can go indefinitely without paying taxes and without a taxpaying citizen able to compete.
A wholesaler like BP or Gulf each has its own formula for setting the rack price. In an attempt to smooth out the spikes and dips of the market, a wholesaler usually buys some of his fuel through long-term contracts. The rest is bought on the so-called spot market, priced at a given moment by a benchmark like the New York Harbor gasoline price.
Every day at 5 p.m., BP tells Ricker what the rack price will be starting at 6 p.m. That price is good for 24 hours.
Glad I filled the boat last week, 230gals @ $2.24
Better yet the gas already in the underground tank since the weekend or longer suddenly cost 40 cents more to pump up into your tank.
What both of you fail to understand is that isn't the way commodity markets work. The cost at the pump is NOT the price the station owner paid last week, it's the price he would have to pay today to replace the fuel you're taking from his tank. It's the price (plus markup) that gas is selling for on the open market. Consider for a moment that things are going the opposite way and gas dropped from $2.99 to $2.29. The station owner would have paid last weeks high price and he would now be expected to sell that product at this weeks low price (or not sell any at all). So certainly it seems reasonable to allow him to sell at the current market price. No? Have either of you ever bought and sold commodities? Do you understand how commodities markets work? If you don't the way the system works you're welcome to change it. You can start small and buy your fuel straight from the distributor, of course you'll find out that the distributor prices his fuel the same way, except he has hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel and the "value" of it fluctuates daily. Of course, if you're buying from the distributor you'll have to buy quite a bit, probably at least 5,000 gallons. You'll have to buy a storage tank. Oh, and that way, when you buy your gas at $2.29 and the price goes up to $2.99 you can sell some of the gas you paid your own money to buy, and your own money to store, to strangers off the street for $2.29 (your stock-pile of gas will be gone in a couple hours). Or, if you think they're gouging why not start an anti-gouging service station. Look at the volume of product you could sell when the price goes up and you keep yours low. You could move 20,000 gal of gas in a matter of hours and you could profit very nicely from it. Nevermind that you wouldn't have the capital to refill your tanks because the market price is now higher. Nevermind the fact that you'll lose your business when you buy gas high and sell it at a loss or don't sell it at all...Besides price gouging I can't understand how gas that has already been purchased by gas stations can jump . $ 0.30 a gallon.
Pure profiteering.
You're neglecting the value added to the fuel in the refining process, the taxes, and transportation.Losers! I live on a hill. It's all downhill from. Here.
p.s. When oil hit $145/barrel several years ago, that weekend I had to move my daughter to college. I paid $4.20/gallon (premium). By my reckoning, with oil at $45/barrel premium should be about $1.25/gallon. Now, granted, in my world all things are simpler. By some weird coincidence, yesterday I rented a UHaul cargo van to move daughter #2. I had to fill up with $2.99 gas.
Losers! I live on a hill. It's all downhill from. Here.
p.s. When oil hit $145/barrel several years ago, that weekend I had to move my daughter to college. I paid $4.20/gallon (premium). By my reckoning, with oil at $45/barrel premium should be about $1.25/gallon. Now, granted, in my world all things are simpler. By some weird coincidence, yesterday I rented a UHaul cargo van to move daughter #2. I had to fill up with $2.99 gas.
Your anger is MISDIRECTED. Blame the EPA.
The local BP refinery produces the Chicago/Milwaukee/Northwest Indiana 'boutique' blend of fuel that is MANDATED by the gubmint for clean air standards. Unfortunately we cannot use fuel that is blended for St Louis or Detroit or Cincinnati or Louisville. So our local area prices are going to skyrocket for the next week or two while the BP refinery is under repair.
The EPA has different blends for each major metro area. Its illegal to ship a blend to a different area to make up for a shortage. Not sure what buereaucrat came up with the scheme that has every area using a differnent fuel, but clearly it was someone who specializes in inefficiency and redundancy.