OT - Diesel prices now 50 cents lower than gasoline here in MN

[belfert]

I drove by a gas station today that had gasoline listed at $3.29 and diesel at $2.79 for a 50 cent spread!  This is in Minneapolis, MN and is probably extreme as some stations are still as low as $2.99 for gasoline, but the trend seems to be increasing prices.  I didn't pay attention to a lot of the prices today.

I'm happy right now since I have all diesel vehicles, but I would be a lot happier if fuel prices in general were lower.

I don't understand why gasoline prices continue to go up while oil prices have been dropping.  Maybe the refinery changes for ULSD have increased diesel capacity enough to help prices.

[DrivingMissLazy]

I personally believe the prices are "based on what the traffic will bear", and has nothing to do with supply of oil or refinery capacity or any of the other excuses used to justify the current prices.
Richard

[cody]

I agree with richard, I think it's all a conditioning project to get us used to higher fuel prices, last year when the cost of crude was at 76 dollars a barrel we had the same fuel prices that we have now at 61 dollars a barrel.  They can use what ever excuse they want to keep the price high and we have very little choice but to either stay home (not an option lol) or pay it.

[Lee Bradley]

I personally believe the prices are "based on what the traffic will bear", and has nothing to do with supply of oil or refinery capacity or any of the other excuses used to justify the current prices.
Richard

That is how EVERYTHING is priced.  Any other system is madness; you end up with the old Soviet system where the prices were low but there was no goods.

[belfert]

I don't understand how gasoline demand continues to rise in face of such high prices.  Most people I know are cutting back on driving and buying vehicles with better mileage.  Before high prices, people thought nothing of driving 40 miles across town for little things.  Now they realize it could cost $10 or more in fuel and don't go.

Fuel prices are probably going to cause the next recession if there isn't some sort of mandate to reduce the total cost of fuel, hopefully through conservation.

My daily driver gets 38 to 40 MPG and I'm certainly guilty of making trips I would not have made in a 17 MPG pickup or SUV.  Driving is pretty cheap for me.

Brian Elfert

[edvanland]

It is not just the good old USA, but the rest of the world is using more gas so the oil cost more.  Take a look at China, India and some of the other developing countries.  Then there is Venezuela.  We can go on and on. 
ED
MCI 7

[jjrbus]

actually there is someting that we can do about it. If we choose 1 gas company and boycotted them. We could put them out of business. It would be hard and take more than 1 season of survivor. But as a nation we do not have the guts to do it.We really are pathetic. Our founders would be ashamed

[belfert]

actually there is someting that we can do about it. If we choose 1 gas company and boycotted them. We could put them out of business. It would be hard and take more than 1 season of survivor. But as a nation we do not have the guts to do it.We really are pathetic. Our founders would be ashamed

Most gas stations are not supplied by the name on the sign.  BP, Shell, Conoco, etc gas is often the same gas in the same city/metro area.  The only difference is the additive package added to the tanker before delivery.  Good luck finding all of the stations nationwide that a single gas company supplies.  Your time would be better spent finding ways to reduce use and increase bio fuels

What good is one gas company out of business going to matter anyhow?  Any oil holdings, facilities, and refineries are almost certainly going to be sold to someone else.  If a refinery gets shut down then fuel prices will continue to go up as refinery cacpacity is a huge issue.

[Utahclaimjumper]

We sure cant look to the politicans, they are bought and paid for, what bothers me is the trend to make more money by producing less, where is all that coming to.>>>Dan

[Dallas]

actually there is someting that we can do about it. If we choose 1 gas company and boycotted them. We could put them out of business. It would be hard and take more than 1 season of survivor. But as a nation we do not have the guts to do it.We really are pathetic. Our founders would be ashamed

Most gas stations are not supplied by the name on the sign.  BP, Shell, Conoco, etc gas is often the same gas in the same city/metro area.  The only difference is the additive package added to the tanker before delivery.  Good luck finding all of the stations nationwide that a single gas company supplies.  Your time would be better spent finding ways to reduce use and increase bio fuels

What good is one gas company out of business going to matter anyhow?  Any oil holdings, facilities, and refineries are almost certainly going to be sold to someone else.  If a refinery gets shut down then fuel prices will continue to go up as refinery cacpacity is a huge issue.

Brian,
I hate to disillusion you, but tanker drivers do not carry any additive to put in a load of fuel. That is a fallacy promoted by the oil companies to sell gas.

I hauled gas and oil out of Fargo, ND to every kind of station in 3 states, and never once did I have any "additive" to put in to a load. Nor was it available at the tank farm where we picked up.
I loaded out of the same rack/hose/tank as the Flying J driver and the Shell Oil driver and the Simonson driver, not to mention every other brand.

And then to think about it logically, how much additive would I have to carry in the cab of my truck in order to bring an 8500 gallon load of gas to a 1% solution?

Just food for thought.

[belfert]

I hate to disillusion you, but tanker drivers do not carry any additive to put in a load of fuel. That is a fallacy promoted by the oil companies to sell gas.

I never said the driver carried the additives.  I have heard that some gas supposedly has additives added when it is filled.  I don't know if that is true or not.  When I had gasoline vehicles I never bought gas anywhere particular just because the gas supposedly had additives.  I also don't buy my diesel at any one station either.

As you have pointed out, the tank farm supplies many different stations so boycotting a particular name brand on a station isn't going to necessarily hurt the company badly when they may not even supply the station.

[Dreamscape]

We are a fossil fuel driven economy, worldwide. Without it we would be going back to horse and buggy. Sure we here about everything from hydrogen to battery cell operated vehichles. It isn't going to change much in our lifetime. The oil companies don't want anyone to come up with another solution so they can continue to make the big bucks at our expense. That's life in the 21st century.

I applaude anyone who tries alternative fuels, that's how we went from horses to cars. And buses too!

I am happy to report that diesel is 50 cents cheaper than regular gas here in Abilene, about 2.69. The days of cheap fuel are gone. Remember when bread was a nickel and gas was 25 cents a gallon? Our income back then reflected what we paid for things. I don't want to go back making 1.00 an hour.

Happy Trails,

Paul

Dreamscape

[Ncbob]

When you take into account that the refineries are old...haven't built a new one since '79..and the demands put on the existing facilities by both the environmentalists and state and local governments for a 'special blend to reduce smog' (read CA) and add in the reduced market for heating oil in the spring it's easy to see that the gasoline pipeline won't be as full as the heating oil or diesel pipeline at this time of year.  It's really a cyclical thing...happens every spring.

It's the old Supply and Demand rule of economics...nothing else.

Why, you ask, isn't the Government doing something about what seems to be 'windfall profits' the oil companies are making?  Simple!  The higher the prices go the more tax monies go into Government coffers. Here in NC we pay .41 cents a gallon on a retail price of $2.50 a gallon.  The state tax is a percentage of the retail price not a fixed rate per gallon.  When Gas goes up the politicians in Raleigh rub their collective hands together and find ways to spend the additional revenue.  Do you really think they're going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg?  Not hardly.
Simply rant and rave about Big Oil and deflect the consumers wrath from their high taxes to the supposed profits of the oil companies.

Belfert referred to the people he knows who are driving less.  Fine.  But the routeman who delivers the bread, milk and produce to your local market doesn't have the privilege of driving less miles so he keeps consumption up simply by trying to earn a living.

That my friends, whether or not you wish to believe it...is Economics 101 for petroleum products.

NCbob

[lostagain]

This guy in a gas station asks: can I have $10.00 in gas please.
The clerk answers: That'll be $20.00, sir!