It affects EVERYTHING. As the gas prices continue to skyrocket, so will everything else - except wages. It'll be the death of this economy if it doesn't get controlled - I have seen this in my crystal ball ..............
Average gas price likely to top $2
By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
The average price for gasoline is almost certain to top $2 a gallon Friday, and the average could hit a record over the weekend or early next week as fuel prices rebound much faster and appear headed much higher than experts had predicted.
"It is incredibly unusual to have gasoline prices higher on Halloween than on the spring and summer holidays," says Tom Kloza, senior analyst at Oil Price Information Service, which surveys prices daily at 60,000 gas stations.
The nationwide average for a gallon of unleaded regular was $1.989, up nine-tenths of a cent overnight, motorists' club AAA reported Thursday, using OPIS data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration, which samples prices each Monday, showed the average at $1.993 earlier this week, up 5.5 cents from a week earlier.
Prices are about 42 cents a gallon higher than a year ago, adding roughly $200 to the yearly fuel bill for a midsize sedan, $300 for a midsize sport-utility vehicle, perhaps $500 for a full-size SUV that uses premium fuel.
Higher gas prices have a wide impact because most people can't simply quit commuting to work or school. "Gasoline prices affect almost everyone 16 years of age or older," EIA noted this week.
The OPIS/AAA record is $2.054 reported May 26. EIA's record is $2.064 May 24. Although they could be the highest numbers posted, taking inflation into account, the nationwide average for regular must pass $2.95 to set a record. The current average is more than $2 in 16 states, and 18 more are likely to pass $2 today or this weekend, according to OPIS/AAA data.
Highest averages are Hawaii, $2.383 a gallon, and California, $2.378.
Diesel is a hefty 59 cents higher than a year ago "” about $250 more for a tractor-trailer rig to go cross-country. That eats up profits of trucking companies, ruins small operators and boosts prices of goods the trucks carry.
Diesel is $2.13 a gallon, up seven-tenths of a cent overnight. "Unheard-of territory," Kloza says.
Gasoline and diesel are made from crude oil. The price of benchmark West Texas Intermediate, also known as light, sweet crude, was a record $54.76 a barrel Thursday, up $1.12 a barrel. The jump was partly a reaction to the weekly EIA report showing inventories of heating oil are 10% lower than a year ago.
Adjusted for inflation, the record price for oil is $81.30 a barrel.
Oil prices are high because global demand is great and supplies are tight. Small interruptions are enough to spur commodities traders to bid up oil prices. But "no factor is greater than the demand from China," where the economy has zoomed, according to a report by Frank Holmes, chief investment officer at U.S. Global Investors.
If we drill Canada and destroy China, things would go more or less back to normal, right? Let's start pressuring the President and Congress.
When do we start?
You can blame this on 4 things
1. Environmentalists and policies not allowing new refineries to be built or for that matter more oil wells to be drilled. Take your pick.
2. SUV's specifically big guzzlers which if you have a large family are fine but not when Husband and Wife both have one and they are the only members of a family. How did large families ever survive without them before
3. Gasoline Taxes
4. Instability within OPEC...
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2. SUV's specifically big guzzlers which if you have a large family are fine but not when Husband and Wife both have one and they are the only members of a family. How did large families ever survive without them before
You know i keep hearing that about suv.
But i dont belive it.
My wife has one. It gets 23mpg her old car got 25mpg the suv has 3 times the room that the car did.
My dad got one it gets 22 mpg the regular cab truck that it replaced only got 14mpg.
There suv both get better milage than my regular cab truck it gets 20mpg.
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You know i keep hearing that about suv.
But i dont belive it.
Well, the environmental eggheads all expect Americans to drive the same four-cylinder, two-door asian recycled beer cans. It's the "environmentally sound" thing to do.
I don't buy into the gas guzzler argument either. People should drive what they want regardless of whether or not they truly need it (and who defines need anyway?). Oeh's other points are the ones we need to focus on. American energy independence will probably never be achieved with petroleum, but there's a lot we can do to bring us closer.
ORIGINAL: oldelkhunter
You can blame this on 4 things
1. Environmentalists and policies not allowing new refineries to be built or for that matter more oil wells to be drilled. Take your pick.
2. SUV's specifically big guzzlers which if you have a large family are fine but not when Husband and Wife both have one and they are the only members of a family. How did large families ever survive without them before
3. Gasoline Taxes
4. Instability within OPEC...
And you can blame all that on only one thing - the push to devalue the American dollar, which in turn will lead to many things such as the eventual crash of this economy and a brand new money system for the world complete with only one way to buy and sell. (See my post on the micro chip.) This stuff is real folks and headed our way and not by accident either. Oh, and the cool thing is when we all buy foreign products to participate in this wonderful "global economy", it only adds to the decrease in the value of our own dollar. Yep, $2.19 here and climbing.
BTW SC, were you able to squeeze a few extra miles per gallon out of that big hog?
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One thing that really bothers me is how the stock market can dictate to us what we will pay for gas. It's a catch-22. People see the value of the stocks going up and buy into it which in turn pushes it even higher. The losers are the consumers who are at the mercy of the stock market.
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BTW SC, were you able to squeeze a few extra miles per gallon out of that big hog?
My buddy has a similar 2500 HD without 4 wheel drive and he changed to a synthetic oil and filter and gets I think 10-12% more MPG. I'm going to get it and see how it works for my truck as well. Other than that, no, 12 mpg is the best i'm getting
The way I understand it though is once you use synthetic, there is no going back. It isn't something you try and then don't do again. At least that is the speach I get from all the mechanics.
gasoline prices are killing us
