Gas price average tops $3 in Calif

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by ghostrider, Apr 23, 2006.


  1. ghostrider

    ghostrider Resident Poltergeist Founding Member

    Gas price average tops $3 in Calif. By Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA TODAY
    Fri Apr 21, 7:14 AM ET



    California on Thursday became the first state in the continental USA to see average gasoline prices go above $3 a gallon in 2006, while the price at the pump in Los Angeles hit an all-time high.


    The average price for a gallon of regular gas in California hit $3.015 Thursday, up 3 cents from the day before and up 34 cents from a month ago, according to a daily tally from motorist club AAA and the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). The average statewide price is 4 cents shy of the all-time high reached in September.


    Some regions in Southern California set records Thursday. The average price in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area hit $3.029, the highest price on record. Prices in Orange County, Riverside-San Bernadino, Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc and Ventura also broke records.


    While gas prices in California are often higher than in other states because of the different clean-air blends used there and fewer pipelines present, there recently has been a pricing frenzy in spot gasoline markets on the West Coast, says Fred Rozell of OPIS.


    Alfredo Zapata, who owns a personal-training business in Los Angeles, says he thinks people are getting used to the higher prices.


    "A lot of people like to talk about it, but for the most part, the show must go on," Zapata, 43, says.


    On the other side of the country, some gas stations from Virginia to New Hampshire were closing temporarily because their suppliers have to shut down to switch to ethanol blends to meet clean-air rules.


    "The whole supply chain has to stop, draw down inventory, inspect for leaks, clean the facility" before refilling the tanks with ethanol blends, AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom says. "It could result in motorists finding a station here and there not having gasoline."


    Some regions require anti-pollution fuel blends. The chemical MTBE has been used, but refiners are phasing it out to avoid lawsuits over its potential health risks, and ethanol is the only handy replacement.


    Nationwide, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.825 Thursday, up more than 2 cents from Wednesday and 31 cents higher than a month ago, according to OPIS and AAA. That's the highest price since Oct. 13.


    In Hawaii, the most expensive state, gas was $3.154 Thursday.
     
  2. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    :evil: ;)
     
  3. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I paid $3.05 on Thursday - 87 octane :evil:
     
  4. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    260 ish
     
  5. ghostrider

    ghostrider Resident Poltergeist Founding Member

    I'm expecting the $3 + prices will really diminish the following of the tree huggers who won't let us drill off the coast of Kali.
     
  6. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    Man I dont know about that, these ones here are freaks and want to walk everywhere.
     
  7. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I dont know how much more it has jumped in the last couple of days, first of the week it was $2.56/gal here and by Fri it was $2.80/gal...Im going to have to get one of the little rollerskates with a motor (like the little Toyotas or some such) and a big jug of Vasoline to squeeze into it just to have good enouph gas milage to be able to afford to keep working if it keeps jumping like this.
     
  8. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    :cry: $2.96 for super this evening [gone]
     
  9. CRC

    CRC Survivor of Tidal Waves | RIP 7-24-2015 Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    $2.91 for regular....


    I hate this..

    Kind of glad I live on a small island now...no where to go... :dunno:
     
  10. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

  11. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    That’s the difference between state taxes on gas I'm guessing. We don’t have a sales tax, but big gas and income taxes.
     
  12. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I would say difference in taxes, delivery costs (close to refineries and such is probably cheaper than a few hundred miles away) and profit for the retailers based largely on what the market will bear.

    I know when I lived in the city you could drive around and there was often as much as 10-15 cents difference in the price of gas, even at various locations of the same companies stores, from one area of town to another and would be pretty consistently different not just that one location hadnt gotten it changed yet when others had.
     
  13. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    So it's the govenment's fault? Or Bush's? GET OVER IT!!

    http://www.slate.com/id/2140613/nav/tap1/?GT1=8019

    Hope this is still live when you go there. Yes, the profits are up, but that is more due to demand than price gouging. Us consumers are the reason producers exist. Just for the exercise (and I'll leave that to you) look up the return on investment on stocks of oil companies. Actually a bit lower than most large corporations, and IIRC, a much larger R&D expediture, too.
     
  14. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Price gouging is just a political buzzword...
    It isn't so hard to see that Oil being sold to us at $70 a bbl up from 2-3 yrs ago at $30ish a bbl would equal Pump prices twice as high?

    The masses tend to want to always blame "Big ____" for any price increases.

    Plus, Silver has doubled in the past 2 yrs... That's real easy too. Silver hasn't gone up, It's just an indicator of how the Dollar has DROPPED in value.

    That's the reason that most smart countries are dumping the USD for the Euro or Gold.

    This is simple Econ. It sucks to pay $3 a gallon for Diesel, but I really don't think the Big Oil co's are to blame. IIRC, the Fed gets almost $.30 per Gallon, then add in the state. Retailer gets about 8% profit too.

    On profit. Wouldn't it be more fair to look at profit margins for Exxon than straight, out of context, profit? I mean, Demand IS up, right? So if demand is up, wouldn't overall consumption be up as well?

    If overall consumption is up then the Pump is buying more from the Big Oil co... = record profits? I'm no fan of big business, but I think that this is just another way for our wonderful .gov to extract some cash for redistibution from a Business.

    ghrit, Remember Atlas Shrugged?
    What if Big oil just told us to F*** off and shut down for awhile... :dunno:
     
  15. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Yup, I do. [bow]

    It's worth noting that the demand for petro products is not so much higher here than it was, say 5 years ago. The increased demand is more from overseas than domestically. Looking at supply-demand theories, items such as gasoline are described as inelastic. In essence, that means that demand does not move much with a given change in supply. Another way to say that is that demand is pretty constant no matter what the supply might be. Look back at the early 70s. Supply went to zero in many areas, but the demand was such that if there was a gallon available, it was bid above diamonds nearly. The cap was put on that by the gov't, and rightly so at the time, by capping prices to prevent hoarding, and at least try to save some for those who would wait in line for whatever quantity was available. Some of the idiots were racing from one station to the next, and spending hours cruising looking for a station that had some to sell. (Burned more that way.)

    Part of the increase in price is, as you say, due to some inflationary pressures. But not all. Look to the increased demand overseas in some of the awakening nations to put upward pressure on prices. NB: If we reduce our demand by some unexpected miracle, the extra will be soaked up elsewhere, and domestic prices will NOT drop to match.

    Use it or lose it folks, and lose it we will. It's just a matter of time. We can, and should develop alternatives. Me(maybe me only)thinks that the hydrogen economy is the way for us to go. But we have to go nuke, big time, before that can happen. In the meantime, start accumulating petrochem stocks. [gone]

    PS. Yes, the gross revenue is up, way up. But as I said, check out the net receipts vs. stock values as a measure of return on investment. Remember also that the procedes are taxed twice, once to the corporation, then again when the dividends get to the stockholders. All that money does not represent unearned windfall at all. It is a return to the folks that had faith that the company would not lose their money. I'll let the matter of rediculous salaries to some other time. That part is truely a supply and demand issue.
     
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