Category: Energy & Gasoline Prices

The New York Times has an article today, Many Feeling Pinch After Newest Surge in U.S. Fuel Prices. Centered on Denver, the article describes sacrifices and changes people are needing to make as a result of $2 gasoline.

In the CBS survey, 85 percent of the 1,113 respondents said they had been affected measurably by higher gas prices, and 56 percent said they had been affected a great deal.

Can this be true? Today, according to AAA, regular gasoline averages $2.04 nationwide. A year ago it was $1.48. That’s 56 cents a gallon. Even 30 gallons a week amounts to only $16.80. Are any but the seriously poor “affected measurably” by $16.80? Is this not mostly psychological because gasoline prices are posted so conspicuously?

Keep in mind that we were paying $2.81 a gallon in today’s dollars in 1981.

Gasoline in Frankfurt (Germany) is around $5.31 a gallon.

From Kevin Drum:

COSTCO….I was over at CostCo yesterday and they were selling gasoline (regular unleaded) for $2.27 a gallon. Cars were lined up ten deep at each service bay, waiting about 20 minutes each to get to the pump.

On my way home I passed four gas stations. The posted price for regular unleaded at each one was $2.33, $2.34, $2.35, and $2.39. So that’s an average of $2.35, or eight cents higher than CostCo.

The CostCo lines had the usual mix of big cars and little cars. Figure the average tank size was about 15 gallons. At eight cents a gallon, that’s a savings of $1.20 compared to other gas stations.

That means these folks were all willing to idle away in line at CostCo for 20 minutes in order to save about a dollar. It’s amazing, isn’t it? It’s almost like CostCo has them hypnotized or something.

AAA says the national average for unleaded regular yesterday was $2.00⁹, up 20 cents in a month. The highest state average price for regular is $2.31⁸ in California. The lowest, South Carolina at $1.85⁶.

On the trip to Denver and back this week NewMexiKen paid as little as $1.99⁹ and as much as $2.19⁹ for mid-grade.

The highest price for gasoline in constant dollars was $2.81² in 1981. We still have a ways to go to break the record.

GasBuddy.com is the portal site to more than 170 web sites that help consumers find cheap less costly gas prices.

Just don’t drive so far out of your way you burn the savings.

National average today for regular according to AAA — $1.95.

Crude oil surpassed $40 a barrel yesterday for the first time since 1990. That’s up 9.9% since April 24.

Nationwide, regular gasoline is averaging $1.93 according to AAA.

In Albuquerque last night the three grades were $1.85⁹, $1.96⁹ and $2.07⁹.

When gasoline was 20 or 30 cents a gallon I suppose it made sense to price it in the tenths of cents, even if it was always 9/10ths. Now that it’s two dollars a gallon (as NewMexiKen paid today), the 9/10ths of a cent seems awfully silly. Why does this anachronism continue?

AAA has a fun calculator. Enter your starting point and destination, and the make, year and model of your car, and the AAA Fuel Cost Calculator will calculate the cost of gaoline for the drive, one-way and round-trip.

AAA reports that the national average for regular is now $1.740, the highest ever.

However, in constant dollars, gasoline actually cost more from 1973 to 1985. (The price peaked at $2.75 in today’s dollar in 1981.)

Crude oil is currently about 74 cents per gallon. The wholesale price is about 40 cents more. Taxes (federal 18.4 cents, plus state/local 23.6 cents average) bring the total to $1.56. The retailer gets the remaining 18 cents a gallon.

From CNN/Money, gasoline prices from California ($2.14 for regular) to Oklahoma ($1.60).

Thanks to The Coyote’s Bark…. for the pointer.

Via Easterblogg an interesting chart on the “actual” cost of gasoline.

Last week the national average for regular unleaded was $1.71.

Update: Chart has been revised to 2004.

From Wampum —