Gasoline could drop 50 cents/gallon by spring

I wouldn't want to own a Hummer dealership or an RV dealership right now. Here in Sac, unleaded gas is $3.60/gal, diesel is $4.15 / gal.

 

The cheapest stations (Arco and some Valero) are about $3.50 but Shell and Chevron are about $3.60 this week. It went down just a tad over the last couple of weeks, but now appears to be on its way up again. SF gas prices are about $0.20 more than here.

Think Malorn will ever post here again?

 

I certainly hope so. I don't think Jimmie84 is cutting it as the resident GM shill. He just doesn't have malorn's panache.

 

well the dollor is in the toilet, and oil in many way's is tied to the dollor's value, like most commodities, so don't expect 2$ gas any time soon. Demand is only going to rise in the next few months..I see 3.75 national avg as very real..or 4$

here in vegas it spiked to about 3.34 avg...seen it up to 3.40, couple of years back for a few weeks we had 3.69$..then the lax period..now it's up again. You can really saw though, guess we will just have to see what opec has it's sleeve..and the Iran oil bourse..opened..market has started as of last month..and they don't want to trade in USD...could be ruff times ahead.

 

Pretty far from $2.00/gallon, by my thinking.

Somehow, I tend to doubt it. The more time passes without a post, the harder it will be to move on from the $2.00/gallon prediction.

 

Current national US average is $3.28/ gal. So gas would have to drop $.63 in the next two weeks.

Looking at the last 5 years (GasBuddy.com - Find Low Gas Prices in the USA and Canada), the most it has ever dropped was about $.60 (in 2005 and also in 2006) in the span of two months.

I think on April 15 the moderators should change Malorn's avatar to a Yaris.

 

So, Malorn made a bold and perhaps foolish prediction that didn't come true. It's not like nobody ever did that before. He's maybe got some 'splainin' to do, but that shouldn't get him exiled.

 

I don't think anyone here wants Malorn exiled. Quite the opposite - we're all wondering where the heck he is!

I can understand if it seems like folks are piling on Malorn unfairly. On the other hand when you start off a thread like this one with a statement like:

...you're setting yourself up for some not-so-gentle ribbing if your predictions fail to pan out.

 

I don't want him exiled - I just want to see how he explains what happened. Will he admit that he was wrong or will he try to spin it into something else?

He found a report on Reuters that claimed that gas prices could go down this spring and then posted it here to taunt Prius owners because he seems to believe we somehow made a bad choice because gas was going to be cheap again.

I think the reporter(s) who wrote that article were on crack because normal seasonal fluctuations in price always rise in the spring. They didn't even consider that in the article.

I would still like this car even if gas went back to $2.50, but the reality is that we are very very unlikely to see it go back to $3 in California. Ever.

My local Chevron station is now $3.71 for regular unleaded, the highest price I have seen at that station.

 

He's probably too busy filing for bankruptcy. He's a GM dealer, remember. He sells SUVs for a living.

I don't want him exiled at all! I want him to come back here and eat crow. Remember he offered a bet that he'd change his avatar if he was wrong about the price of gas. Someone (I don't remember who) accepted his bet. (Had malorn won, the other fellow would have had to change his avatar.) Now, by refusing to show up, he's renegging on his bet.

Come on back malorn! We think you're all wrong, but we don't hate you. We argue with you, but we like you.

 

Actually $4/gal gas is not far off. Here is a Consumer Federation Research Paper, March 2008 in PDF format. Interesting reading to say the least. Seems almost everything we all have been saying, Dollar problems, supply adjustments to demand pressures, and even out and out price fixing is now the norm... With oil now the "new gold", we are about to see $4/gal + coming soon.

 

It wasn't that farfetched though. Gasoline inventories are at high levels, not seen for something like 14 years. Refineries aren't even operating above 85%, so they could glut the market if they all came online (there's usually a bit of scheduled downtime as they switch over to summer blends), even with the usual increased driving in the spring/summer seasons.

But they didn't take into account the raw price of petroleum is so much higher than last year. That's what's driving up the price, refineries still don't want to sell at a loss/break-even, no matter how much inventory they have.

I'll try posting my pictures again, see if it works better as .gifs

Year-over-year gas prices, note the start to this year:

Year-after-year gas prices, with polynomial-based trendline:

 

Well, today DH went to put gas in the Buick (his main work vehicle).
He didn't fill it. Stopped at $43. Said he got scared

That tank-almost-full will last him quite awhile... usually 6 weeks or so.
We've been definitely driving less, and shorter trips when we do (less shopping in the big city).

Oh, and he paid 3.50 a gallon today.

 

Can it be locked after changing it to a Yaris?
It isn't a punishment, it's a payout.

 

Actually, my GF's brother in law is a GM dealer. One of the dealerships is apparently in trouble. I can't give any details, but they are contemplating filing bankruptcy as an option.

The Ford dealership where my dad bought his Taurus folded up last year. One of the Sacramento Ford dealers (Senator Ford) announced last week that they are going to stop selling new cars (I'm assuming they are going to try to stay afloat as a used car dealership).

I keep seeing those newspaper ads for Dodge Crew Cab pickups with 0% financing and wondering how long Chrysler will be able to stay in business trying to sell those things. I think those Dodge trucks get about 12 mpg if you are lucky.

Like I said earlier, I wouldn't want to be a Hummer dealer or an RV dealer with $3.50 / gal gas prices.

 

There is a reason Chrysler is going to shut down for a couple of weeks.... They may have to shut down for more than 2 weeks.... The challenge that Chrysler is facing is they don't have much to offer in the way of gas sipping product. Don't be surprised if Chrysler is not in business in a few years.

With few exceptions, the car business is getting tougher. Even Toyota is cutting production of their trucks and FJs.

 

Looks like spring to me. Here in are on March 31 in sunny CA. Real image. No photoshop.

 

Where on earth is that? It looks like a roadside station with nothing else in the area. I'm guessing they've always priced their gas at 1 to 2 dollars above normal.

 

Death Valley?

 

Good eye. A little Googling found this:



The Nature, Wildlife and Pet Photography Forum: Death Valley - Wireless Internet and $5.16+ Gas??