Mrs. Big Picture just called to complain that she was filling up at $3.59 per gallon (premium) as we speak.
Here’s the latest chart (2 weeks old) of U.S. Retail Gasoline Prices; I will update this as soon as the latest data becomes available:
Source: EIA/Department of Energy
Note that these are prices as of 4/13/06; Prices have risen in the ensuing 2 weeks since then . . .
This chart compares current prices with one year ago.
Source: EIA
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UPDATE: April 24, 2006 2:19pm
Lost of readers have suggested this chart:
Source: Gas Buddy
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“Just tap your heels together and repeat after me. There’s no real inflation. There’s no real inflation. There’s no real inflation.”
Why is there “no inflations” and the “economy can better handle” higher fuel prices? I have already poest how the trash collection went up 15% for fuel.
Now todya I call and order pine straw and the charge is a 12% surcharge for fuel.
So everything I buy is 10-15% higher, why isn”t that inflation. It must be becuase I can’t afford it.
Fill it with mid-grade. I run a ’04 Vette on 87oct, runs like silk.
From what I have heard, mid-grade is a waste, get premium if your car needs it, otherwise get regular. And if your car doesn’t require premium then there is no need for it, save your $. This is just what I have read/heard, may or may not be true. I drive an old car with high milage and get regular all the time.
Andrew
with Bernanke testifying before Congress on Thurs i’m sure he’ll be asked to comment on gas prices. it will be interesting to see what side of the argument he subscribes to:
rising gas = inflationary pressures
rising gas = deflationary pressures
when he was a White House cheerleader commenting on the Katrina spike he noted”
“The amount of speculative activity is not that great and I’m fairly convinced that what’s happening to prices is not much to do, or anything to do, with speculation. What it has to do with primarily is just the fundamental facts of supply and demand,” he said in response to a viewer question.
if he repeats that type of rhetoric i suspect we could see the commodity markets continue their rally.. the speculators (that aren’t driving up prices) would interpret his belief as a sign that rising commodity prices won’t prevent them from stopping the tightening campaign and it could be off to the races (just like after minutes released).. if i was a speculator in oil i would be very happy to hear that from the Fed Gov.. if i were a bond or dollar speculator i would not be so happy….
Three bucks a gallon diminishes the number of Hummer sightings dramatically.
Is the price of gas a big deal for owners of luxury cars? Even paying a thousand or two dollars per year in gas, that’s not a huge increase in percentage terms of disposable income.
Alaskan Pete: My daily driver is the ultimate contrarian ride — a rotary-engined Mazda RX8.
Its a tweaky machine, with all sorts of exotic oddities (warm ups, do not step on the gas on start up, etc.) Its a weird but fun coupe — with suicide doors and a 9000 RPM redline, and perfect 50/50 balance. Very tossable. (and I got a great lease deal 12/04)
Already had 3 seperate recalls — upgrading spark plugs (tend to flood), replacing chips (better cold weather driving) and one other thing I cant remember.
Its tweaky — so when they very specifically require premium fuel . . . I comply
Who says people who lease luxury cars have lots of disposable income?
Just because someone can afford the lease on a luxury car doesn’t mean they have plenty of disposable income :)
Have you noticed how many companies are adding fuel surcharges to your bill as separate line items rather than actually raising the prices for their products? Sure, your plane ticket still costs $200, but with the $135 fuel surcharge, it doesn’t cost $200 anymore.
I bet you none of those fuel surcharges make it into the end prices used to calculate inflation. Funny, that…
I drive an ’04 Chevy Suburban. The tank was dry today, so I filled ‘er up…$75…wow. The pump actually shut-off at $75 even…my truck wasn’t even full yet.
But the fact is, I’ve calculated that my wife and I could drive our respective vehicles without any change to our lifestyles and pay up to $10/gallon for gas. I’m not saying I want to pay more, but that I can if necessary. I expect that there are many Americans that are in the same situation.
Bottom line, the price of any raw material is controlled by supply & demand…the supply of gas (oil) is finite & the demand will only increase every single year…I wouldn’t be surprised if we see $30/gallon gas within twenty years…maybe I’ll drive less then…
njAndrew: With my Honda Accord I can make out a noticeable difference in engine noise between Regular and Midgrade, and with Regular it appears to shift into lower gears more often when accelerating. I’m also of the opinion that I get slightly better mileage with Midgrade, but not as much as to conclusively tell me whether it compensates for the higher price, as my driving profile is too erratic for a scientific study.
cornhusker said: I wouldn’t be surprised if we see $30/gallon gas within twenty years…
Maybe in 2026 dollars, but not in 2006 dollars. (at least not April 2006…) The reason is that we can make liquid fuels out of coal, or garbage, or switchgrass, or chicken poop or whatever for a lot less than that. Not counting taxes, I’d be surprised to see liquid fuels over ten current dollars/gal on a long term basis for a long time to come. With coming Plug-in Hybrids, you will be able to run your car on grid electicity (coal, nuclear, wind etc) most of the time. That will change the picture a lot.
Can anyone explain the geographic price discrepancies to me? I understand NY and CA prices are high (my county in Upstate NY is near the top at $3.19/gal) due to high tax rates, but why are states like Wyoming still seeing prices as low as $2.37/gal? I’m assuming there must be a pipeline terminating in Wyoming or some homegrown reserves, but I don’t see the reason. Maybe someone local in Wyoming, Idaho, etc might be able to explain that $0.82/gal gap to me. thx
State and local taxes make up the bulk of the price differences.
Taxes but also..
Pipelines do tend to converge in Chicago. Furthermore, some of the chemicals that go into the gasoline mix can’t be shipped by pipeline. They must be moved by truck or rail and these systems are currently congested.
Has anybody calculated the correlation between Bush approval ratings and oil prices state-by-state or county-by-county? Would be very close to -1, I guess.
Notice the two very red counties in northwest CA? Humbold and Del Norte counties. I used to live there years ago. One guy owns all the gas stations and the terminal where the gas is delivered.
Dudes, stop complaining about gas prices. It hit $1.10 a litre ($4.40 a gallon) in Canada this week, and about 1 pound a litre in the UK (about $7.50 a gallon). The US is so underpriced, it’s incredible. Mind you, W has another 1,000 days, so maybe we can set some more records…
Bottom line, the price of any raw material is controlled by supply & demand…the supply of gas (oil) is finite & the demand will only increase every single year…I wouldn’t be surprised if we see $30/gallon gas within twenty years…maybe I’ll drive less then…