Next stop: $3.35 per gallon, according to fuel experts

[priussoris]

Here is what I saw today ...
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=30...p;Business=true

[TonyPSchaefer]

“But if we have a refinery fire, we’re going to see 4 dollars pretty fast,” he added. [/b]

Hurricane season, anyone?

[gojirast]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jgills240 @ Apr 5 2007, 07:18 PM) [snapback]418498[/snapback]</div>

I expect most of the country to see $4 this year, and wouldn't be surprised to see SD over at $4.20 or so.
[/b]

I expect that if that happens, and oil companies are still reporting record profits, there's going to be some very interesting developments for oil executives. Piss people off enough, and no amount of body guards in the world will be able to keep you safe.

The general populace might be stupid, but not stupid enough to think that Exxon should be able to keep a high profit margin when fuel is that expensive. If the government doesn't do something about it, I'm pretty sure there are groups out there that will.

I'm glad I'm not related to any oil men.

[Godiva]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gojira @ Apr 5 2007, 11:31 PM) [snapback]418616[/snapback]</div>

I expect that if that happens, and oil companies are still reporting record profits, there's going to be some very interesting developments for oil executives. Piss people off enough, and no amount of body guards in the world will be able to keep you safe.

The general populace might be stupid, but not stupid enough to think that Exxon should be able to keep a high profit margin when fuel is that expensive. If the government doesn't do something about it, I'm pretty sure there are groups out there that will.

I'm glad I'm not related to any oil men.
[/b]

But they have been recording record profits. Time and again. And nothing happens. Probably because those in a position to do something also own oil stock.

[Walker1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(screaming red @ Apr 5 2007, 04:58 PM) [snapback]418415[/snapback]</div>

I'd feel really smug about my Prius if not for the 2000 Expedition loafing in the driveway...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next stop: $3.35 per gallon, according to fuel experts
Rolf Boone - The Olympian - 4/5/07

South Sound drivers, prepare yourselves.

Experts say the area could see a summer with prices as high as $3.35 per gallon for regular unleaded fuel. And the march to higher fuel costs already has begun.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the Olympia area Wednesday cost an average of $2.99, more than 30 cents higher than last year, according to AAA gasoline data.

AAA spokeswoman Janet Ray said the following are among the factors that have contributed to higher fuel prices:

• Increased springtime demand.
• Seasonal refinery maintenance.
• Geopolitical tensions in Iraq and Iran.
• Strong worldwide demand for fuel.

Another factor is the change from a winter blend of fuel to a more expensive summer blend used to meet air-quality standards in warmer weather, Ray said.

“If trends stay the same, we will see record gasoline prices this summer,” she said.

Tim Hamilton, executive director of the nonprofit Automotive United Trades Organization, predicts that regular unleaded prices could top out at about $3.35 per gallon this summer. The organization represents independent gasoline dealers in Washington.

“But if we have a refinery fire, we’re going to see 4 dollars pretty fast,” he added.

Hamilton said rising fuel prices aren’t just a hardship for drivers. Dealers have to pay rising prices to sell the fuel, which endangers their businesses, he said.

Higher fuel and credit-card costs have nearly forced gasoline station operator Stan Parker out of the business, he says.

In the past 25 years, Parker has operated 14 stations, but he recently sold his last two in Rainier and Tumwater.

Today, he is on a short-term lease to operate an Olympia Shell station owned by the Port of Olympia.

Parker thinks oil companies are controlling gasoline prices.

“They know they can get away with it and no one is going to bother them,” he said. “They call it ‘market jitters’ or ‘market forces,’ but that’s a bunch of bull.”

Customers at Hulbert’s Shell station in Olympia on Wednesday weren’t too concerned about higher prices.

Home inspector Tom Targus of Lacey, who travels as far as Westport to do inspections, expects to pass on his higher fuel costs to his customers in the form of a $15 surcharge for his services.

Rachel Carlson of Olympia said she has grown accustomed to higher fuel prices, though she acknowledged that it cost her only $13 to fill her Honda Civic four years ago.

Wendy Ferrell of Federal Way, who commutes to Olympia and SeaTac for her job, adjusts her budget or combines trips.

“Driving is a vital part of life, unfortunately,” she said.

Scott Gadman of Rochester estimates that he spends about $125 a month on fuel, filling his Saturn’s tank every five days.

Gadman doesn’t expect to see $2-a-gallon gasoline prices again.

“Every time we’ve gone past (a new price) threshold, we’ve never gone back,” he said.
[/b]

Are you aware that some people on this forum want gas to go way up? Yes, they think that's the answer to the problem. I disagree. Why do you have the Expedition now? Why not get a 2nd Prius and save $$$ ? I think many more people need to dump the gas hogs and drive sensible cars. Of course many won't, until all the ice on the planet melts & we have no more fresh water to live on. But, for now they will keep their SUV's, huge trucks, and will insist they have the right to have them. So, as gas guzzling vehicles suck up more gas the price will keep going up. I have to suffer because of the selfish, self-serving types that will not get a practical vehicle. I HATE paying the oil cos. & Arabs for their lousy overpriced gasoline. They give us NOTHING for all the $$$ they've stolen from the world's people's.

Sorry for the rant-It's not directed at you. I have a real problem with gas prices and the greedy oil cos.

[skruse]

I filled up this morning, 10 gallons, $30.99. The large SUV in front of me at the same time spent $80+. The people filling the SUV just laughed it off.

I would like gasoline to go to $10 per gallon, with the "extra" invested in long-term alternatives: light rail, high speed rail, freight rails, extended bicycle & pedestrian paths. California has a "hot rod" culture that drives jacked up large pickups and mega-sized vehicles, with little regard for fuel economy or air quality. As a culture, we don't seem to think until there is a "crisis," then we get serious. At $10 per gallon, people will become more serious.

[fshagan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(skruse @ Apr 5 2007, 09:11 PM) [snapback]418633[/snapback]</div>

I filled up this morning, 10 gallons, $30.99. The large SUV in front of me at the same time spent $80+. The people filling the SUV just laughed it off.

I would like gasoline to go to $10 per gallon, with the "extra" invested in long-term alternatives: light rail, high speed rail, freight rails, extended bicycle & pedestrian paths. California has a "hot rod" culture that drives jacked up large pickups and mega-sized vehicles, with little regard for fuel economy or air quality. As a culture, we don't seem to think until there is a "crisis," then we get serious. At $10 per gallon, people will become more serious.
[/b]

Well, not so much the "air quality" part, since we have the most stringent air quality laws in the nation (always have had). But you're right about the big car culture. You see tons of them here.

I have been averaging over 50mpg the last two weeks ... three weeks ago, after my oil change, my mileage was down into the low 40s. The dealer had lowered the air pressure to 35psi, so I put it back up to 42/40, and got my 47.5 mpg average on my commute (mixed freeway and city driving with freeway speeds up to 80mph). I thought I'd try to see what would happen if I kept to the right and stayed at no more than 65 mph a few days. I'm averaging 54.5 mpg now. And I don't think my commute is taking any longer (I spend time stopped in a couple of places, so how fast I get to those bottlenecks doesn't seem to make a big difference in the commute).

[Screaming Red]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Walker1 @ Apr 6 2007, 12:51 AM) [snapback]418626[/snapback]</div>

Are you aware that some people on this forum want gas to go way up? Yes, they think that's the answer to the problem. I disagree. Why do you have the Expedition now? Why not get a 2nd Prius and save $$$ ? I think many more people need to dump the gas hogs and drive sensible cars. Of course many won't, until all the ice on the planet melts & we have no more fresh water to live on. But, for now they will keep their SUV's, huge trucks, and will insist they have the right to have them. So, as gas guzzling vehicles suck up more gas the price will keep going up. I have to suffer because of the selfish, self-serving types that will not get a practical vehicle. I HATE paying the oil cos. & Arabs for their lousy overpriced gasoline. They give us NOTHING for all the $$$ they've stolen from the world's people's.

Sorry for the rant-It's not directed at you. I have a real problem with gas prices and the greedy oil cos.
[/b]

No offense taken, rant on. Gas going way up isn't the do-all, be-all answer to the problem. When gas prices rise precipitously it really hurts the people who can't afford to make a change in their ride, and where we live mass trans really isn't an option. That sucks. (And so do greedy fat cat oil executives and morons who legislate to offer tax incentives for purchasing Hummers.) I'm hoping for incentives, fuel economy legislation, alternative transport and work plans plus a little time to enact change, with gas prices that continue to rise to keep us moving in the right direction.

The Ex stays for now to haul the camping trailer around the big, beautiful West, and because we have 3 kids and haul up to 8 on occasion. I'm trying to think of it as really expensive lawn art....

[snowdog650]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gojira @ Apr 5 2007, 09:31 PM) [snapback]418616[/snapback]</div>

If the government doesn't do something about it, I'm pretty sure there are groups out there that will. [/b]

You know ... you could be right. There are plenty of extreme right-wing domestic terrorism groups in Michigan, Idaho, Montana, Alabama ... if it gets bad enough, I could see them going postal on some corporate buildings.

[Bill Lumbergh]

People can piss and moan about high gas prices all they want. As long as we keep buying, they'll keep raising the price for every little thing. Investors continue to speculate on the cost of oil and profits of the producers, which drives up the price because so much oil stock and contracts are being bought.

My license plate says LOLGAS, because I laugh every time I get passed by some jackass in an SUV or full-size truck (which is literally over 50% of the vehicles in Anchorage). I know they're getting hosed at the pump while I rack up the sweet high mileage. I think I paid $18 a few days ago and started thinking what else I could do to increase the mileage.

The changes I made worked and I'm back to 45 MPG this tank with over 120 miles gone.