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$3.29 A Gal  and they say by next week it will be over $4.00 a gal Thank You Mr GWB for are gas prices

Sorry, brother. GWB didn't have anything to do with that. The hurricane did and no matter what Cindi Sheehan says the President didn't cause the hurricane.

*Shudders* at the though of Cindi Sheehan.

Gas here is $3.19 for regular unleaded. The gas my car uses, runs $3.39. :'(

The station I get gas at sells the medium grade gas for less than the regular. It sells at 3.19 today and expecting to go higher yet.

The cheapest station in my neighborhood here in the Bay Area jumped from $2.79 to $2.99 in one day.  

I guess I better fill up tomorrow.

I've got a 5 gallon can of gas for my lawn mower that I bought back in the good-old-days (three weeks ago) when gas was only $2.49.  Maybe I should auction it off...  ;D

the Hurricane just happen at the right time for him to blame it on  next week itll be something diffrent to blame it on

this a quote from other Forum about the price of Gold (Gas)

Some people have a sick sense of humour. This disaster did a number on on the gas companies just as it did to others. Oil platforms destroyed, gas stations destroyed, fuel refineries destroyed. The gas stations that are running out of fuel are those that are in the damaged area where fuel trucks can't get to them. Yes, the price of gas was going up but this disaster made it go up even higher and even faster.

People need to get a grip on realty and realise just how bad this thing really is.

I remember a hurricane that hit Florida during Clintons term. Gas prices went up then, too and the damage was no where near as bad as it is now.

Yup, I was told today, that, the gas station I use, is only getting 1\2 of their normal supply tomorrow. Thats one of the reasons, I was gone earlier. I bought, 10 jerry cans (6 gallon) and filled them with fuel tonight. Gas we were told, would hit $3.85 - $4.05 tomorrow. :'(

GWB has everything to do with this gasoline issue.  Last week he signed an energy bill that could have capped the gas prices, instead he put in it a measure to give the oil compaines even more money.  Remember I am from Texas and i know how his family has got their hands in the pockets of oil people.
betty

Thursday, September 1, 2005

Katrina driving price of gas to $3 a gallon
Retailers say refineries making huge profits

By DAN RICHMAN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Seattle-area gas prices, already at record highs, are climbing at unprecedented rates and will hit or exceed $3 per gallon going into the upcoming Labor Day weekend, experts said.

One gas executive predicted prices will reach $4.

For hotly disputed reasons, prices here likely will climb even though this region enjoys almost complete energy independence from the Gulf of Mexico refineries and crude-oil sources damaged earlier this week by Hurricane Katrina.

Some local drivers said the high prices are compelling them to give up their cars, whereas others said they aren't feeling enough pain yet.

"I thought my ceiling was $3 per gallon," said Angelo Davis, 28, as he filled his car with $2.99 per gallon gas at the Union 76 station at East Roy Street and Broadway East. "I guess I'll have to re-evaluate that."

Danielle Mailand, a cocktail waitress in Pioneer Square, said she had reached her limit. She's now walking from Capitol Hill to her job every day and taking a taxi home.

"Gas prices plus parking are double now what they used to be," she said.

Regular unleaded gas in the Seattle area sold for an average of $2.76 Wednesday, according to GasBuddy.com. The average price nationwide was $2.80 a gallon, an increase from $2.60 Tuesday.

"That's certainly the largest jump we've ever seen," said Jason Toews, GasBuddy's co-founder.

Marcus Kenney, 26, of Capitol Hill bought $10 of gas Wednesday afternoon -- double his usual amount.

"You've gotta get a little more before it goes up even more," he said.

Gas is still more expensive elsewhere. Prices in parts of Michigan and in Dayton, Ohio, rose 50 cents Tuesday night to $3.09, according to Brad Proctor, founder of Gaspricewatch.

The highest price in the country for regular-grade gasoline was $3.88 a gallon in Death Valley, Calif. The lowest was $2.36 in Louisville, Ky.

Seattle-area pump prices haven't risen nearly as sharply -- but our turn may be coming, said GasBuddy's Toews.

"Prices seem to be going up all across the country, and I'd guess we'll see the same thing in Seattle, probably within the next several days," he said.

The Bush administration agreed to release oil from its emergency stockpile to help Gulf Coast refiners hobbled by a loss of shipments because of Hurricane Katrina. That move could ease prices by easing the supply of gasoline.

The federal government also will allow the temporary sale of higher-polluting gasoline to avert shortages.

Where will the price spiral end?

"We're going to be over $4 a gallon retail by the end of next week," predicted William Shireman, executive vice president of Gas City Ltd., a 50-station chain based in Frankfort, Ill.

Toews disagreed, setting the likely peak at $3.50.

Wherever they stop, the rising prices are leading to more drive-off gas thefts, which service station owners are trying to thwart by requiring prepayment.

Drive-offs cost retailers about $237 million last year, up from $112 million in 2003, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores, which represents about 111,000 stores that sell gas.

Western Washington doesn't rely at all on crude oil from the Gulf of Mexico, and it refines enough gasoline to export it to neighboring states and foreign countries. So why would prices rise here after the Katrina disaster?

Officials said the price increases here result from complex factors involving supply, demand and national markets.

Janet Ray, a spokeswoman for AAA Washington Inland, said the pricing pinch won't come from shortages at Western Washington's refineries.

Rather, shortages here may result when our refineries begin shipping to the South, the Midwest and the mid-Atlantic, which are dependent on oil and gasoline from the Gulf of Mexico.

It's "very probable" those sales will take place, she said, though she didn't know when.

The Western States Petroleum Association was less specific in addressing why gasoline prices here are rising.

"The question often arises why we have this market volatility if we have production here," spokeswoman Amanda Mangels said in an earlier interview.

"It's part of a very complicated system of refining, production and distribution."

It's not that complicated to Tim Hamilton, executive director of the Automotive United Trades Organization in Olympia, which represents about 400 gas retailers in Washington state.

"The price increases are just refiners making more profits," he said. "The increases in pump price have crippled the retailers while providing huge profits to the refineries."

He said gas retailers nationwide average a profit of between 10 and 11 cents per gallon, which is cut into by processing charges of between 2.8 percent and 3 percent imposed by credit-card companies.

He also said exports from Western Washington refineries to Australia, Chile and other countries are cutting into supplies available locally, raising prices here.

Katrina is affecting travel by air as well as by car. Delta, American, Northwest and Continental airlines have cut or canceled flights into and out of New Orleans, Gulfport, Miss., or both.

Daily jet-fuel production nationwide has been cut 13 percent because of damage to the refineries, said Jack Evans of the Air Transport Association.

The flight cancellations and fuel problems come at a time when the major airlines, especially Delta, are already reeling.

"I think all of the airlines will feel this (and) ... $70 a barrel oil is the straw that would break the camel's back," airline expert Terry Trippler said.

Crude oil for October delivery sold for $68.80 a barrel, down 14 cents, in after-hours trading Wednesday. The prices were 56 percent higher than a year ago.

Katrina driving price of gas to $3 a gallon (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/238854_travel01.html)

Oil and Gas Prices Surge as Storm Disrupts Output (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=4&url=http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/business/29cnd-oil.html&ei=iKIWQ8D3DMuYYcvdwMwJ)

Oil industry roiling; gas price spike expected (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=8&url=http%3A//deseretnews.com/dn/view/0%2C1249%2C600159658%2C00.html&ei=iKIWQ8D3DMuYYcvdwMwJ)

The Katrina factor and energy prices (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=10&url=http%3A//csmonitor.com/2005/0831/p01s01-usec.html&ei=iKIWQ8D3DMuYYcvdwMwJ)

Oil near peak over $70 (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=11&url=http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/markets_oil_dc&ei=iKIWQ8D3DMuYYcvdwMwJ)

Hurricane drives crude oil prices to record high (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=14&url=http%3A//news.ft.com/world/oil&ei=iKIWQ8D3DMuYYcvdwMwJ)

Hurricane damage brings shock at the pumps and to budgets (http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=news&start=1&num=3&q=http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--gasprices-nj0831aug31,0,3127463.story%3Fcoll%3Dny-region-apnewjersey)

Thursday, September 1, 2005

Bush approves tapping nation's oil reserves

Citizen Wire Reports

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration yesterday said it would release oil from a special federal reserve to help refiners hurt by Hurricane Katrina.

The announcement relieved some pressure in oil markets, but gasoline prices kept soaring, and spot shortages developed.

The decision to let companies request oil from the government's 700-million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve came after Katrina knocked out 95 percent of crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Analysts and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the move would be of limited use. The main problem now is lack of refining capacity to turn crude oil into gasoline.

He said the reserve could deliver 5 million barrels of oil per day, more than three times the amount of lost Gulf production. The stockpile, stored underground in Texas and Louisiana, was last used after 2004's Hurricane Ivan. Companies that borrow from the reserve must pay it back, at a slight premium.

"Will it make a major difference in the price of gasoline? Based on the numbers that I see, probably not," Bodman said. "It'll help some, but we have significant refining capacity that is dysfunctional."

Crude oil contracts for October delivery fell 87 cents yesterday to $68.94 a barrel. But gasoline futures surged as high as $2.92 a gallon before settling at $2.61, an increase of 14 cents, up more than a third from Friday.

Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said that opening the reserve was only a partial solution, but would provide stability to refiners that are operational.

He predicted that the strain on the energy market will be "significant and protracted."

Some independent gasoline stations started to run short of fuel yesterday, lines formed in some places, and prices continued to rise.

With two major pipelines and up to eight refineries shut down, gasoline was getting tougher to find at some stations, particularly in the Midwest and on the East Coast.

In Georgia, a few gas stations were charging as much as $6 per gallon after other retailers ran out of gas and long lines were reported across the state. In response, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed an executive order authorizing state sanctions against gas retailers who gouge consumers.

"I'm frankly embarrassed for our state and some of our businesses that we have to do this," said Perdue.

This week's increases come atop a 40 percent price rise in the last year that boosted the average retail price of unleaded regular to $2.61 a gallon nationwide last week, Energy Department figures show.

Experts agree that gas prices will peak at an average above $3 a gallon. But "It's too early to say whether $4 a gallon is possible," said Dan Pickering, president of Houston consulting firm Pickering Energy Partners.

Prices likely will climb high enough that motorists will cut back on driving, making gas available but expensive, said Larry Goldstein, president of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation.

Though motorists are griping about big overnight price jumps, state attorneys general say they haven't had many complaints yet about exploitative pricing. While many states have laws against what is considered "gouging," definitions vary.

Despite the approach of the three-day Labor Day weekend, motorists organization AAA urged gas conservation.

"At this point, anything they can do to limit their discretionary driving and conserve fuel would be helpful," spokesman Geoff Sundstrom said.

In Georgia and North Carolina, state officials asked residents to conserve gas and government workers were ordered to limit nonessential travel. A suburban Atlanta vanpooling program also reported a 50 percent jump in participants since Katrina hit land.

Gas prices jumped by more than 50 cents a gallon in Ohio, 40 cents in Georgia and 30 cents in Maine.

Concerns are now mounting over limited supplies of gasoline, including the possible return of long lines and scarcity reminiscent of the 1970s gas crisis.

Analysts expected some relief once electricity is restored to Gulf Coast pipelines and refineries, but they are unsure how long that will take.

Problems soon could extend far beyond motorists' wallets.

Major airports in the East and Southeast could run out of jet fuel as soon as next week if refinery and pipeline shutdowns aren't resolved soon.

Shortages appear most severe at airports in Charlotte, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers, Fla. But two of the nation's busiest airports could also be affected - Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson and Washington Dulles.

Industry consultant John Armbrust says the supply disruption could cause some airports to run out of fuel in a week or two.

Herbie Howard, who owns four stations in Toledo, Ohio, and supplies gas to 17 others, spent hours on the phone hunting a decent price from his suppliers. He had to pay $3.18 a gallon - 9 cents more than he was selling it for.

"We aren't making any money," he said. "We're just minimizing our loses, but no one believes you. They think we're price gouging."

Here's what bothers me about gas.
I do not blame the President I do blame the oil moguls.

The price of gas at the station goes up or down according to the cost per barrel. The price per barrel goes up, and right away the gas at the pump goes up right? Then, the price per barrel goes down, but the price at the pump takes weeks to go down, if it goes down at all!

The explanation is that the gas in the tanks of a stations was purchased at the higher cost per barrel, perhaps a month ago, so the price of that stations gas is related to the high cost when it was purchased, and it takes time for the expensive supply to work it's way through the system.

If that's true then these exorbitant prices should have taken weeks or months to affect the price at the pump, but it took a single day!

These oil giants are using this tragedy to bilk us for billions of dollars!

I figured that one also and if you ask them about why they do it that way then they get mad and say thats just the way it works.

I certainly feel the pain of everyone.  I filled up in Concord, CA yesterday at $2.98 (first time in the history of the USA the Bay Area is cheaper than someplace else) and the same station is at $3.08 today.

The good old USA is now having to pay just over 1/2 of what most other countries' in the world have to pay...  Is that because other countries' taxes are so much higher?  Why does a gallon of gas cost twice as much in the UK than it does in the US - even today?  It must be for a reason beyond market value.

What ever the answer, it is GW's fault.  If it wasn't for GW, the hurricane would have been MUCH less powerful.  If only we had Algore or Jokerry in power...  All would be okay...  Hurricanes would be calm... Islam would produce oil to meet the infidel's needs...  We would be in tuuuuuuune with the world's needs...

 :)

JN, The sarcasm in that post is overwhelming. It was so thick I had a hard time reading the words.  ;) ;) ;D ;D

Well, Fox News is promising a major invegistation into the oil problem. I want to see what kind of spin, they put on this. Please insert [sarcasm ]here.[/ sarcasm] ;D

Gas Here in Ohio is now $3.49$ a gal

Chevron finally broke $3 in NorCal today.  They were the last holdouts below the big tripple.  They're still cheaper than everyone else.  The "discount" stations are five cents higher than Chevron.

And, no, I DON'T have stock in Chevron...
Hmmmm - maybe I should buy some...  ;D

Too late, shoulda done that months ago.

Gas prices here have falling. Down to 2.99 from a high of 3.29.

Story of my life.

I just watched Forrest Gump again.  I get a kick out of the part where Forrest tells about Lt. Taylor investing a bunch of their money from shrimping in a "fruit" company called "Apple Electronics" and they never have to work again.

Funny coincidental thing - if you'll remember; they got rich because a hurricane hit the gulf coast and their's was the only shrimp boat left afloat...

W00 H00, gas dropped from 3.84, down to 3.69. :D

As of yesterday it was 2.96 here down from a high of 3.29 and is expected to drop even more.