Gas Prices

[Tank]

gas stations raise prices quickly when the price of a barrel of oil goes up. they're much more sluggish about lowering the prices when oil prices drop.

 

 

 

this important moment has been brought to you by captain obvious.

[Redondo]

gas stations raise prices quickly when the price of a barrel of oil goes up. they're much more sluggish about lowering the prices when oil prices drop.

 

 

 

this important moment has been brought to you by captain obvious.

 

Sad, but true

[wopphil]

Welcome to CA. A state professing to care so much about its poor, working class, yet imposing the strictest refining regulations in the nation, gas prices and the working man be damned.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

$2.99 right now at Costco.

[Adam]

I've paid somewhere between $3 and $4 per gallon the last dozen or more times I've gotten gas

[Redondo]

$2.53 today here in Arizona

[Don]

$2:58 here in KCMO. Seems a bit high given that this is usually one of the cheapest places in the country, and apparently many areas are under $2 now.

[Amazing Larry]

Closest gas station to my house is $3.69.

[fan_since79]

Oil is jumping now and energy stocks are soaring, so expect gas prices to leap back up very quickly.

 

Gas should really be at about $1.25 but it's not. And wouldn't you know, oil company profits are at record highs. California oil refineries' gross profits nearly doubled in 2015.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Oil is jumping now and energy stocks are soaring, so expect gas prices to leap back up very quickly.

Gas should really be at about $1.25 but it's not. And wouldn't you know, oil company profits are at record highs. California oil refineries' gross profits nearly doubled in 2015.

Man. There's only so much complaining you can do about this. Nothing ever "should be." It is what it is.

[mtangelsfan]

gas stations raise prices quickly when the price of a barrel of oil goes up. they're much more sluggish about lowering the prices when oil prices drop.

 

 

 

this important moment has been brought to you by captain obvious.

 

Gas stations are not in control of prices.  We try to keep our margin the same regardless of price.  Our prices rise and fall (or don't move) based on what we pay for it from the oil companies.  Some of that is dictated by the refineries, some by demand, some by oil price. 

 

and oil company profits are not at an all time high.  Not even close.

Edited August 27, 2015 by mtangelsfan

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Gas stations are not in control of prices.  We try to keep our margin the same regardless of price.  Our prices rise and fall (or don't move) based on what we pay for it from the oil companies.  Some of that is dictated by the refineries, some by demand, some by oil price. 

 

and oil company profits are not at an all time high.  Not even close.

 

MT, do you own a gas station(s)?

[Tank]

Gas stations are not in control of prices.  We try to keep our margin the same regardless of price.  Our prices rise and fall (or don't move) based on what we pay for it from the oil companies.  Some of that is dictated by the refineries, some by demand, some by oil price. 

 

and oil company profits are not at an all time high.  Not even close.

 

i'm using "gas station" here in an overall generic way. i don't know who the person is that is responsible for setting the actual prices. 

[Mark68]

About $2.80 here in Denver.

 

 

Usually get gas at Safeway, so we get a discount based on how much we've spent on groceries, so what we pay varies.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I paid $3.03 at Arco yesterday for regular unleaded. A friend in Oklahoma posted a photo of a station sign showing $1.99.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Vegas Halo Fan

[2112]

All through the West it seems gas is a lot higher than the rest of the country.  I can understand California, the state taxes the crap out of it.  But Nevada taxes less.  

 

Nevada gets gas from Texas now via pipeline.  From what I understand the original pipeline from California was reversed with Texas fuel going to California. So why isn't the gas cheaper?

[mtangelsfan]

MT, do you own a gas station(s)?

 

i'm using "gas station" here in an overall generic way. i don't know who the person is that is responsible for setting the actual prices. 

 

 

Soto I run one for a local cooperative.

 

Tank, the price you pay is made by the station you choose to go to.  However, you have to understand that they have to purchase the fuel first.  Most places have a set margin they know they need to stay in the black.  That margin will be made whether the price is $1 or $4 per gallon.  If the prices are super high the margin must go up even more due to the credit card fees.  These can range from 3.5% to 7%. 

[NJHalo]

Just went down to $1.99 at Costco down the street here in northern NJ

[Tank]

still 3.45 at my local arco. best price in quite a while, but still so much higher than everyone else. 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Soto I run one for a local cooperative.

 

Tank, the price you pay is made by the station you choose to go to.  However, you have to understand that they have to purchase the fuel first.  Most places have a set margin they know they need to stay in the black.  That margin will be made whether the price is $1 or $4 per gallon.  If the prices are super high the margin must go up even more due to the credit card fees.  These can range from 3.5% to 7%. 

 

I once worked at a convenience store that did a lot of volume in gasoline. Our markup wasn't a lot. As I recall (this was in the late 1970s) our margin was about three cents per gallon. However. the gas pumps got people into the store (this was before people could pay at the pump) and we sold a lot of other things because people came in.

 

I'm guessing now that the markup is higher, because people can pay at the pump and never come into the store. Profit on fuel sales is probably more of the total revenue than it was back then.

 

MT's point about the stations purchasing the gasoline first is exactly why so-called "gas boycotts" (not purchasing fuel on a particular day) will have no impact. The oil companies have already been paid for the fuel that is in the underground tanks, and you are only hurting the revenue of your neighborhood businessman. Besides, unless you can figure out a way to run your car on water, you will eventually be back for the fuel that you didn't buy today.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Vegas Halo Fan

[fan_since79]

So oil was up 9% yesterday (and 27% in the past week) and down 7% today.

 

Traders, shorts, and hedge funds rule this market. Supply and demand (and other conventional things) are obsolete.

[Angel Oracle]

Costco (Irvine and Tustin) is down to 2.99/gallon.

[Redondo]

Exxon Mobile poised to hike output at Torrance refinery

[NJHalo]

$1.93 this morning!

[Angel Oracle]

$2.89 this weekend at Costco/Corona

Edited September 14, 2015 by Angel Oracle