You've do doubt heard the story that if you place a frog in boiling water, it will immediately try to escape. But if you put the frog in a pot of cold water and gradually increase the heat, you'll be enjoying frog legs before too long.

That apparently isn\'t true but we're all part of the experiment.

Gas prices have been creeping up since the war began and now is approaching or surpassing $3.00 a gallon in some places. The rate of increase is increasing.

Do you think we'll EVER see gas for less than $2.00 a gallon again? Not when we've become comfortable paying $2.35 and thinking that was a bargain.

How are higher gasoline prices affecting your lifestyle? Are you expecting to make a change as gasoline prices increase still more?

Buying a vehicle with better gas mileage? Taking shorter driving vacations? Flying instead of driving? Consolidating trips when running errands? Carpooling? Taking public transportation to work?

Who or what do you blame for the higher fuel prices?

What does it cost to fill up your vehicle?

Are you satisfied that paying higher fuel costs is OK?

They are able to raise the prices on gas because we are letting them.
During the early 70’s
People switched to smaller cars.
They cut down on their travel
They car pooled
Alternated energy was used –alcohol
President jumped in and set mph regulations on cars
Government buildings had to keep their AC set higher
Solar energy was used.
It wasn’t long till we drove the prices back down.

But to day we accept it

I don’t see any of these things anymore. Except for the electric car and a few small cars.
Down here in Florida everyone has to have an RV even the Toyota pickup is as big as a full size ford.

If the prices are not driven back down this country is going to face an other recession.

It cost me $52 for a fill up. 21 gal

$86.08 on Sat. 8/13

Can't wait to go on vacation in Sept. I remember when the largest expense was your room/board, not any more!

Well, I always tried to consolidate errands to save both money and time. As far as how much it costs...I try not to look. Lucky for me right now my distance to work is not bad, and I avoid peak rush hour. I am in the Orlando, Fl. area and our only mass transit is busses and they don't run often enough(where I am)to help me out.
The people in this county voted down light rail and the Governor manage to get the State Rail voted for by the voters killed (by another vote after doing nothing for 2 years).

Other interesting questions ...

What do you drive?
What gas mileage does it get?

I have a 2003 Ford F-150 XL pickup truck that gets around 22 miles per gallon on the road.
Also I have a Mazda MPV min-van that gets 26 miles per gallon on the road. 6 cyinder on both vehecles Hal

I'm driving a 2002 PT Cruiser that gets 20 MPG around town. Haven't had it on any long road trips.

I think it has a 14 gal tank. When the 'hey, look at me dummy' dinger goes off and gas warning light comes on, it now takes $25+ to fill it. About 10-12 gallons.

I consolidate a lot of trips. I mostly work at home, some days I don't go anywhere.

I try to keep my eye on the price of gas at different stations along the routes I do travel so that when I need to fill it, I can choose the one that I saw had the cheapest gas.

That usually is Wal-Mart or Safeway. Circle-K stores are all over the board price-wise -- even stores a few blocks from each other.

Anybody driving a hybrid?

I drive a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab and I get about 17 MP combined. My husband drives a 1999 Ford Ranger and he gets about the same mileage as I do. Unfortunately, he also drives almost 50 miles one way to work 5 to 6 days a week. I am not working at the moment, but when I do start looking, it will be closer to home.

Cathy

Note: This is a copy of my reply in the reunion section. It seems to fit under this topic too.

Oooohhhh ... I wish I lived your side of the pond. I just worked it out: a gallon of 87 is a little over $7.20 here in England
:rolleyes:

Is that the "Imperial Gallon"? WOW.

When I was in Germany in 1968 and 1968 in the Army, gas was about $1.25 a gallon. We were able to buy it "on the economy" with ration coupons for 23 cents a gallon.

OK, Stan and Margret - What do you guys drive? What kind of mileage do you get? What accomodations do you make for the high cost of fuel?

I drive a 2004 Ford Explorer which is our only vehicle since my wife doesn't drive. My commute is 26.5 miles round trip per day with 22.5 miles of that highway driving. I average about 16 mpg. I usually get gas once a week on Monday after the weekend tourists go home and the price drops a little. It only takes an average of about 11 gallons a week for me to fill it up. I don't drive a lot because since I work most every day I like to stay home as much as I can when not working. Still, $27 dollars for ten gallons yesterday is totally rediculous. Can't wait until next year when the oil companies announce all their millions (billions) of dollars in profits for the year. Talk about getting raked over the coals.

Tom

My car is a 2004 Subaru Forester. On a recent trip to Canada we got around 30 MPG which I thought was pretty good as not all of the trip was on major highways and also included a couple of small side trips from where we were staying.

I.O. just bought a new 2005 Subaru Legacy.

I mostly try to consolidate my errands and many days just don't have to go out at all. I.O.'s the one who "goes here, returns for a while and then goes somewhere else".

Yesterday I saw prices that ranged from $2.51.9 to $2.59.9 for regular.

I guess the only way to save money at the pump is to drive less, but then no one seems to want to do that these days. Even if you do all you can to economize with you vehicles there's still the increased prices for groceries and other goods to contend with. Of course most of us could stand to eat a bit less also!

Oh tut tut Bob, its hard imagining you driving your Vette to the Dock as one of the angry proletariat blaming the secret forces of evil capitalism.

For what its worth, oil hit a peak of $67 barrel last Friday and energy stocks moved down.

Some causes of the higher price of gas...



[*]Rapid expansion of developing countries - especially China.


[*]Increased consumption from the real estate/housing boom.


[*]The impact of terrorism causing general uncertainty over attacks on Saudi oil fields and others.


[*]Oil somewhat replacing gold as the bad news hedge.


[*]Uncertainty over the hurricane season adversely affecting gulf rigs (which it has).


[*]Aging refinery capacity not keeping up with world demand - refineries are long term investments and very expensive to build.

Of course you can get employee pricing on a new Ford Extradition (ever get stuck behind one of those behemoths driven by a soccer mom on a cell phone? Yikes!) With all the money you'll save its almost like the gas was free! heh heh

Thank goodness Jimmy Carter isn't president.

T

Cry me a river!!! Only an Oil Company would be greedy enough not to invest in the long term. Oops, why should they, just wait until a President passes an energy bill to help them pay for it.

Ford Extradition.........LOL

Too bad Jimmy Carter isn't President, I guess if we kill thousands of Iraqi's that had nothing to do with 911 it is better than Sadam doing it? And whether we do it or if "Terrorists/Insurgents" do it, it is still our fault! Someone explain this one in church to me sometime!!!

Sean

Tim, is right on the money, China and India are two of the extremely large economy's rapidly expanding which are creating a supply/demand issue by grossly increasing their use of oil. Whether on not the supply is there or not is debatable though, but still out of the hands of Americans.

The refinery issue is one created by uncle Sam in the first place by placing the regulatory bar so high that no refiner wants the attempt to build a new refinery, I think it has been over 30 years since a refinery has been built, although I think I heard a new will be started next year.

Same thing with natural gas, we can import LNG from around the world..... but the United States only has two LNG ports, the next ports won't be online for another 5 years

... the Peanut Farmer reference was to the 55 mph speed limit he gave us during the "oil crisis".

T

Yep, the speed limit probably wouldn't do as much as banning SUV's, of course the government helped the sales of those with big tax deductions.

I felt the 55 mph limit was one of the best things ever done from a public safety standpoint on our Interstate Highways. I was on a RADAR Team for seven years giving all the non-believers what they deserve. Carnage on the highway grew to a halt in our area. Crashes, some people call them accidents but there is no such thing as an accident because someone caused it through negligence, were reduced to next to nothing. There was also a drastic reduction in personal injury. That may not matter to many people but it does when you have to clean up after it and tell the family that their loved one was no longer living.

The 55 mph limit saved gas for those who kept it at 55 or the general vicinity thereof. When the speed limit was 55 mph, people would do roughly 60-65 mph. Now that the limit is 65 mph the average person does 70-75 mph with many people operating over 80 mph. It's not uncommon to catch people in the 90-100 mph bracket every day.

So what's the big deal you ask? Well a reasonable and prudent person would realize that the cars of today are capable of some amazing speeds. They handle better and are much safer than the cars of yesteryear. Then comes the unknown factors of debris in the road, road conditions, and when the other guy does the unexpected. My favorite is when Mr. or Mrs. motorist slams into a car slowing in traffic because they were going to fast to stop safely, or maybe just not paying attention. When will people learn that they are sharing the roads with all kinds of drivers, and most of them are unskilled in collision avoidance. Most of them just have extremely poor driving skills and may be driving a vehicle that is unsafe at any speed. Would you want to bet your life on the people driving around you on the highway?

In regards to the SUV thing, I've owned three of the larger style Jeeps. These type of vehicles have been around for many decades, and long before the term "SUV" was coined. I've owned several pickup trucks both small and large with the most recent being the largest pickup I ever owned.

When I think of gas mileage, I think of the Vette at 20 mpg around town. The Hemi pickup does 14-17 mpg, and the Jeep does 15-18 mpg. I consider that reasonable because the Jeep goes around 10,000 miles a year, the Hemi will probably go 4,000 miles a year, and the Vette will go about 600-800 miles a year.

I once had a souped-up 57 Chevy that got 4 mpg. I had a Lincoln Mark V that got around 10 mpg around town but was great on the highway. I guess the point I'm trying to make is the newer cars are better on gas than the old cars.

Fuel economy is nice but I sure like driving vehicles I'm comfortable in and most important, feel safe in. If people choose to drive smaller cars for economical reasons, that's just fine with me. This is America where we have that freedom. Yet again, if Ozzie and Harriet need a large vehicle to safely transport their family around, it shouldn't be up to the people to try to ban such vehicles. People should drive what they feel comfortable in. Most vehicles of today are much safer than in the past as long as the operators are skilled and don't outdrive the limitations of the vehicle.

Enough said for now. Contrary minded opinions?

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Oops... Sorry John that I took such an age to answer...
We drive a Toyota Carine E estate with a 1600cc engine. It does in the region of 32 miles per gallon in town and about 42 on a run.
What do we do to save fuel? The only thing we can do... try not to use the car too much.
That is difficult, as I am disabled and can't walk too far and Stan has a heart problem and also is not too good on foot. So ... we have to grinand bear it.
But I hope you can understand that we are a little envious of your fuel-price-problem!!!!

Bob, I agree with you here. I really like to drive. I'll go one further and say I like driving fast in vehicles I'm comfortable in and feel safe in. Especially on twisty back country roads in the Fall when the leaves are turning. Which means vehicles with good braking capacity. Stopping fast is as important as going fast. And when on the interstate, always were your radar detector. :-)

I found the 55mph speed limit an anathema. If you ever had to drive the length of Illinois at 55mph, you know it is pure mind numbing torture. (Its still mind numbing at 85, but doesn't take as long - heh heh.) I do have one suggestion that may help improve saftey: If you wanna talk on the phone, don't be on the road.

The huge Navigator and Extradition size SUVs would be Ok if they had a minimum passenger limit, stayed in the right-hand lane and didn't take their boats to the grocery store.

T

Today BP raise the price of gas by 35 cents. That's a lot for a one day increase.

Hmm. Everyone must have needed gas deliveries at the same time throughout the USA to justify the outrageous price increases within 24 hours of Katrina's damage to the refineries. The looters are not just the individuals stealing from the stores in the hurricane-ravaged areas. Too bad the corporate thugs won't end up doing time for their price gouging. Be interesting to see what their profits are at the end of the quarter. . . . Be even more interesting to hear their take on what they did to get those profits.

A local Cumberland Farms Store about a mile from my home is usually the cheapest gas around. Within a two day period, their price of 87 octance went from $2.56 to $3.11, a 55 cent a gallon increase in two days! Such a deal!

The first day at $3.11 per gallon sent people other places. Sunoco next door to them was at $2.89 but quickly put the 87 up to $2.95. A nearby Mobil & Shell were at $2.89 and kept it there. Now they are really selling some gas now compared to the empty Cumberland Farms.

If the oil companies are raising prices to keep people from using so much gas, I think they may succeed. How can the average American afford to drive all over God's creation at those prices?

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

A couple of things occur to me reading all your comments:

Here in the UK it is illeagal to drive and talk on the phone - unless you have a "hands free" phone! Not that many pay attention to that. Rules are only ever as good as the emforcement capabilities and our police has too few officers with too many other things to do.

Passenger limits in vehicels don't work. They are trying here to make some lanes only for vehicels with 2 or more people ... result: chaos elsewhere ...

And to raise fuel prises to get people to drive less doesn't work too well either. As I said, we pay by now nearly $7.50 per gallon and we still have huge traffic problems (the motorway near here is "affectionally" called "the three lane car park")

Our government wants us to use more public transport BUT ...
We are about to go to our son's wedding party in Manchester. That is about 200 miles from here. On the train it will cost about $200 on the bus a littel more ... in the car just over $50
What do you think we are going to use to go to Manchester?

Anyway... enough of my complaints... we are still envious of your fuel prices

Today, we went to get some petrol here in Corolla for the Yukon. We pulled into the main station in the centre of town, and as we pulled up to the pump, the price read $3.25 for REGULAR. Yesterday, at that same station, it was $2.65! We headed north to the station up by the lighthouse, which we thought might be cheaper because less people go there. I could also get stamps for the PCE cards.

It was a deal, at $3.02. Never thought I'd say that! It cost us $60 to fill up the Yukon. We were going to put in $20 worth, but when we saw the prices, and seeing an article on the news last night on shortages in the Eastern Carolinas, we decided to fill up.

I just picked up the house phone here. The place where we stay in Corolla, The Currituck Club, has a free trolley for guests that can take you from your house to the Club's beach access every half hour. Already this year, they cut the trolley route back, only going down the main road in the community instead of going down every side street like they used to. (Good idea, since not only does it save gas, it was a waste of time to go down the streets when nobody got on.)

The woman from the rental company said she was calling all guests staying in TCC to tell us that the trolley will be running only once an hour after 4PM today. There is NO PETROL left in ALL OF COROLLA. The trolley will run today until it runs out of fuel, and then there will be NO trolley at ALL.

We never use it, since it's a pain to just miss it and have to sit there for 1/2 hour for the next one. We just drive ourselves or bike. But there are a lot of people who take it every day, since they might be down with large groups and have a vehicle situation that forces them to take it. I'd be pretty mad if I was one of those people. Also, I wonder what will happen if it runs out of gas in the middle of the route...does everybody have to get out and push it back.

It's starting to really affect us here. It's the first time we ever paid over $3 for petrol, and this may be becoming the norm. Stan and Margret, we may be envying YOUR low prices soon.

UPDATE on the above situation...

Tonight, we were going up to the 4x4 beach here in Corolla to have our traditional dinner on the beach. We picked up a pizza from Corolla Pizza, which is in the same small "mini-mall" (in the lightest sense of the word) as the Texaco station we got the $3.02 petrol today.

As soon as we saw the line 10 cars long going down Hwy. 12, we knew something was amok. When I looked at the sign, it read $3.30 for regular, $3.40 for midgrade, and $3.50 for premium. Only thing was, they were flat out of the former two - tape x's across the signs, with threes also made out of tape (no threes in the sign kit). The only petrol available was $3.50 premium.

The fact that this gas went up this much, from $2.70 this morning to $3.50 (premium, but forced to buy it no matter what) is ridiculous. Watching the news, it might also be illegal. People are also going into a mad panic, since many families have to leave Saturday, and need petrol to get home, or at least to VA or so to get it cheaper. People are buying out of panic.

Something is amok...people are blaming it on the hurricane, but the gas in the tanks at the filling stations was there before Katrina came through. From what they were saying on the news, it seems that you can only mark up a certain amount from the amount you paid for that gas. Thus, they can't charge $3.30 for regular until they've paid $3.00 a gallon to get that gas into their tanks.

It's out of control!

It's everywhere Greg. Today I saw regular unleaded at $3.47 at a store that usually has "cheap" gas. On Saturday I paid $2.61, Yesterday $2.89 and this morning the same station was $2.99. And the worse news for you is that both pipelines that send gas up the East Coast to NJ and Metro NY are both out.

I think it's highway robbery. When I see oil companies losing money instead of making record profits, then they can justify the type of increases they have inflicted on the American public.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

The scary part is what will people be paying for their winter heating fuel. OUCH! Staying away from the gas pumps will be easy compared to what will happen to heating our homes.

Bert

I can't believe it!! Gas actually dropped here in corntown. Went from 3.15 yesterday to 2.99 today.

BTW, I am leaving for TN next week. Is there any truth to the rumor that KY and TN are rationing gas? Only allowing 10 gal. per fill-up.

Since the price of crude is dropping today, then maybe next week I will be able to get gas for around $2 per gallon!! HA !

Bert, I already have the extra sweaters and blankets ready! We filled up on heating oil already but that usually only lasts until sometime in January. Last year was so cold we ran the heat into May. Hopefully this winter won't be quite as cold.

Topped off my tank this morning--$3.18, $3.33, $3.53 self-serve at a local Texaco. Everybody along Route 7 into Kent was priced at $3.24 and up for regular. Wished I'd waited until we went to Waterbury and Costco this evening where regular is priced at $2.84, high-test at $3.02, and premium at $3.17 with a Costco card. If I recall correctly, non-Costco card purchases were $0.07 higher for each grade. Thank heaven the RV's got a full tank for at least a few hundred miles of travel toward Chesapeake Bay in mid-September. Guarantee we'll be looking for Costcos as we travel around Maryland and Virginia.

Well, hopefully it's the begining of the downward trend already but gas dropped in the Chicago area today. Most gas stations were about $3.35 around here this morning, As of late this afternoon gas could be found under $3.00 (although not by much) $2.97 - $2.99 I was lucky, Monday evening when it looked like it was going to hit the fan I filled up on my way home for $2.47

Digger, I talked to a person Wednesday who stopped at 3 truckstops around Indy only to find all of them out of all grades of gas & diesel, he was able to get to Renneselear and fill up there, But now that the pipelines are flowing again hopefully the outages and rationing are over.

Fri Mac City 339
Fri Mears 299
Sat Mich City 299
Sat Chi 325
Sat LI 329

I'm on the bus from Mac City to Chi Via Detroit. The arverage price along the eastern shore of Michigan has been $2.99. The cheapest I saw was 2.89, the highest was 3.39.

Please tell me where it's $3.29 on LI - Does that mean it's gone down again?

So many places I saw as of Friday were more like $3.59-89 - haven't been on the road since! Is that Mount Sinai prices?

I don't know what I'm going to do quite yet - I drive a Jeep Liberty and have a minimum commute of about 100 miles a day - and it's 2 years old, so I'd have to see if I traded it in for a more fuel efficient car, if I'd get the amount of the loan back - at the time I bough this car, my commute was more like 40 miles a day and then I got mileage money back for going anywhere beyond that - It was all because I wanted a 4 wheel drive vehicle to drive on the beach and visit some lighthouses!

I thankfully already can have every other Friday off if I work my time in 9 days instead of 10, which I do - and drive one less day in that two weeks - but thought that was a good deal to work with what I thought were already high gas prices.

I got one of those credit cards that give you a percentage back on your gasoline purchases - so I get $25 a month back - which no longer even fills half the tank!...and I'm pretty sure my tank is a 17 gallon one.

I was one of the people that had to wait on lines last week (engine off, of course, so not to burn any more gass than necessary on idle)when the gas went up from $2.68 a few days before (I have to fill up every few days) to $2.73-89 the morning before it really got bad...by the end of that day, the place I had filled up at $2.73 (Gulf Station) was $3.15 and the $2.89 station (Hess) right down the road was $3.19...now they are both way more than that!
When I was way out east in Amagansett last weekend, gas was up to just under $3 a gallon there - this was before the hike, of course - I can only imagine they are possibly over $4 a gallon there now.

Maybe I will try staying a little more at the speed limit a little more to save money - since I remember in school learning that 55 MPH is the optimum for fuel efficiency.

Carpooling is difficult for me because of where I live and my varied work locations - and well, trains on LI were not set up to get you around LI, just to the city - buses, I have no idea, don't run across them that often.

Can't save gas by trading cars with my husband, who drives way less than me - he has a Nissan Frontier (truck) - really not much better mileage than me.

My husband and brother-in-law work together and live next door to each other - so we're trying to get them to car pool at least a few days - but they love their "freedom" too much and keep saying how they don't drive very far in the first place - I estimate about 20 miles round trip a day - I think that is significant enough.
I can tell you one thing though - the solar panels idea for my house is looking very good right now, if the oil prices go way up like this - I'm sure this winter will be a tough one.
...As if it wasn't hard enough to live on LI as it was.

I might have to just see if I can work from home at least one day a week (in addition to the every other Friday off)- guess it doesn't hurt to ask...

and start looking more into the car options for trading in my beloved Jeep for a more fuel efficient car - would you believe I drove a Saturn before this? - that had great mileage - I did have it for almost 10 years.

Hopefully, things will get better and the gas prices will level off some...maybe they've already been on their way down since last I saw them - hopefully, we're also following the trend here that everyone else has been reporting.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, with our effort to encourage people to carpool on Long Island - I noticed this summer that the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane is a big flop when there is tons of traffic making its way presummable out to the Hamptons on say a Friday afternoon (and I'm talking about all the way from the start of it in Nassau County to almost the end of it in Suffolk County - gets better by about Exit 62-63, where all traffic is better) - or even Wed and Thursday. They were moving slower than the other 3 lanes of traffic on the LI Expressway a lot of the time. It really hasn't been doing all that much better with the accidents and cops pulling people over all year long on a regular basis either...and I know - I drive along the whole length of the HOV on a daily basis. I don't one how one car pool lane was supposed to fix all of our problems with more and more cars on the road here every year.

The gas stations can't seem to find a rational price point yet. Stations right next to each other have prices $0.50 apart and the next time you pass they have reversed. Stations are changing their prices 2 or 3 times a day. As others have pointed out, they are selling gas that was already in their tanks at an additional $1.00 a gallon profit. It's like an artificial shortage they are taking advantage of for some quick profit taking. What's going to happen when the real shortage works it's way through the system?

Is it possible???that the stations are selling for more than they paid because they will need the additional funds to pay for the next tank full that will cost them more?? I certainly do not support price gouging, but if the station is independently owned it would seem to make sense?? I realize there are those who will raise their prices as high as they can and continue to have customers regardless of how much they had to pay the refinery for the gas.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the prices after the holiday weekend.

Melody,

This is the very reason that was cited in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer last week.

Dennis

I just returned from spending the last three days at Point Judith. I talked to a few people about gas prices at the area marinas. They ranged from a high of $4.50 a gallon to $3.60 a gallon. Unfortunately, the $3.60 a gallon station ran out of gas before I could fill up.

Prices for 87 octane are holding around $3.39 a gallon in my home area. A place near where I keep my boat was $3.41 on Saturday and $3.29 for 87 octane today. Maybe thats a good sign of things to come.

Bob

Prices in the Springs seem to range from 2.79 at the military bases to 3.09 near the Interstate. For once, it seems the eastern staes are higher than the west, unless you're in Aspen or Vail. No supply problems here either. My father and I had an independent station way back in the 60s and 70s and yes, you will raise your price to cover the cost of the next load. Since you sell at about 2 cent markup, that next high price load will make you dig past the bottom of your pocket. Company owned outlets use the same philosophy but can really absorb the differences much easier. For the independents it can be a losing game until the price turns down.

All in all, this looks to be a short term impact. Gulf rigs and refineries are comming back on line and there was never a shortage of oil, only refined products. Panic buying caused by "the sky is falling" media had a bigger impact. The oil companies and utilities are coming back. It's their business to know how to deal with this. I grew up and lived with hurricanes for years and we never expected the feds to show up. The incompetence in Louisiana and New Orleans was expected, they've never been any other way.

For example, The Homeland Security Department has built portable hospitals for just this case. The one from Charlotte sits in the K-Mart parking lot in Bay St. Louis, MS even though it was heading for New Orleans. They couldn't set up there because the locals couldn't decide who would be in charge and what functions the medics could perform. Rant on MacDuff and low be he that first cry "enough."

The "new" low price for gas in my area was $3.19 for 87 octane, as of yesterday afternoon. I would certainly prefer to see the price go below three bucks real soon.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Our new price is $1.83 ..per ... wait for it ... per litre !!! In other words $8.24 per gallon ... GROAN ....

The standard price for regular is $3.00 name brand
The Shell I go to has their for $2.89 and so does the Chevron across the street. The Winn Dixie Gas Station across from them won't even post thier gas.

The 87 octane is now down to $3.08 at the cheaper gas stations in my area.

Bob

Approaching $9 per gallon and the hauliers and proffecional drivers are about to start official protests and demonstrations
Diesel is even more expensive than unleaded fuel (87 Oct.) So these guys are in big trouble!

It looks like gas prices have been bad for a while in the UK...I'm watching a DVR'd episode of Keeping Up Appearances, my favourite Britcom. Richard and Hyacinth are going for a drive in the country, and Hyacinth decides to take another route. When they're turning in the "garage" (filling...er, gas...station), you can see the sign with the prices per litre in GBP:

2.21.9 for regular
1.86.4 for diesel

This epsiode was made in the early nineties, too. So has it always been that bad?

87 octane dropped another penny to $3.07 at the station up the street that seems to remain the cheapest gas closeby. Our local paper had a pic on the front page showing a station in a nearby town selling 87 octane for $2.99.

I'm hoping for another price reduction before I fill my boat. Currently it will take around 180 gallons to fill it up. The "Hemi" was filled when the price was $2.66 for 89 octane. I still have about a half tank left. Twenty six gallon tank in that one.

Here's hoping the price continues to drop.

Bob

Here in Jacksonville my shell station is selling gas for $2.87 and Hess is going for $2.84

In Ft Meyers, FL gas was $2.899 today, here in Spring Hill (near Tampa) I saw $2.849, this evening.

Greg, I think gas in Europe has been much higher than ours for a long time. And I think that the main reason is to encourage public transportation, which is fine if you live in a large city. For intercity travel they have a much better train system than ours. When my daughter and I were in London in '94 we took a couple of day trips by train, one to Wales and one to Dover, stopping at Canterbury on the return trip. If you travel during non peak hours and go 2nd class which is just fine the fares were very reasonable. Getting to where we wanted to go in Wales involved taking two trains and a local bus, which added to the experience. It must have been market day as some woman got on the bus at Swansea, sat in a front seat and parked her groceries on the floor. When the bus stopped quickly all her stuff slid out of her shopping bag and under the seats to the back of the bus. So the rest of us got to gather up her purchases for her. When she thanked us with a big smile we could see all her teeth, think there were 4 or 5 of them! Can't beat the local flavor! We also had a nice conversation with a young man seated in front of us. On the return train ride a couple was doing the crossword. They must have heard us speaking and came up to us and asked us if we were American. When we told them yes, we were they asked us for help with their puzzle which we were able to provide. A bit later some guy who had been sleeping woke up and asked if we had gotten to a particular town yet. Another fellow told him we'd passed it already. Man did the first one get upset as it seemed he had a ticket for a big prize fight and was going to be late since he had to get off the train at the next stop and catch the next one back to where he wanted to go. Lots of laughter followed.

You don't have as much fun sitting in a car!

Gas is so high in NY that when you click on the state on John's Gas Buddy site all you get is a blank page! We do have the highest tax on gas of any state. I think the cheapest around my neck of the woods is $3.159. But then I haven't been driving around just to check prices. Actually I've been very stingy with my last fill-up at $2.619, the day before the hurricane, still have 3/4 of a tank! I.O.'s the one who can't stay home for too long so he can do most of the errands with his gas!

My friend told her husband she wanted to go somewhere expensive for their anniversary. He took her to a gas station.

Gas $2.75 for Shell
Its droping fast

That's a good "benchmark", perhaps, if you get your gas from the Gulf in FL. I think that the over-3-dollars thing might have been a panicky thing after Katrina, as well as the fact that she affected oil supplies on short notice. By now, the oil companies have had time to regroup, and can work on ways to bring prices down.

Just my uneducated, completely-speculative guess...

Well Folks,

I purchased Regular gas at GULF this morning and it was $3.03.9 -- lower, but not a whole lot better. We'll see what happens next time.

bobo

Today in Spring Hill I saw Regular for $2.659

Greg, you are right it has been much higher than the US for way too long. And you have to remember that the prices advertised on those gas station signs are per LITRE not gallon.

And the prices are still going up. But much worse is the panic buying which is going on at the moment. Someone has spread the rumour that drivers and farmers are again going to blockade the refineries. So the gas stations have long lines of people wanting to fill up "just in case". There is no sign of any blockades though.
Hmmmm... Panic is never constructive!

2.75 in Orlando.

329 to 299 on LI.

$2.65 Middleburg FL (between Jax and Gainesville)

Hope it keeps dropping!

Cathy

I made a mistake on that one.. should have read $2.69 at a BJ's Wholesale club in Orange Park.

Cathy

Time to move to Part 2