Thanks Lindsay! ...but you need to do it again.

Now that it looks like there won't be a war with Iran, a slowdown in Europe, Brazil, and China, and the summer driving season has begun with decreasing prices, I see it falling even further.

I told you all that Newt would get us to $2.50 a gallon.

Falling oil. Plummeting Baltic Dry Index. Rising unemployment. The economy's "check engine" light is flashing.

unlikely: The only way it would stay up would be if the oil companies were profiteering pirates or Republican Oil Companies keeping it high to help crush the economy through the election cycle.

Look at China's increase in oil consumption over the last ten years.

jjorsett: Falling oil. Plummeting Baltic Dry Index. Rising unemployment. The economy's "check engine" light is flashing THERE WILL BE NO GOOD NEWS UNTIL THE UPPITY KENYAN IS OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSED.

Yes, yes, we know sweetie, if it was a Republican in office you'd be crowing about the drop in prices.

some how I read that as Lindsay is facing a prostitution violation...

Brent is still $97, which is what people be paying attention to anyway.

Remember 3 months ago when Obama was being blamed for $104/gallon oil? I guess he should get all the credit for lowing the price then, eh?

And gas prices in this area just jumped 25 cents a gallon over night. It's hard to make sense of any of this. (They'd been steadily decreasing over the past few weeks.)

dragonchild: unlikely: The only way it would stay up would be if the oil companies were profiteering pirates or Republican Oil Companies keeping it high to help crush the economy through the election cycle.

Look at China's increase in oil consumption over the last ten years.

And India's.

But speculation is still the big culprit when it comes to this, and we all know (or at least should) that the usual suspects are a big part of that (they even list it on their financial statements).

unlikely: That's why gas is so cheap, right?

I mean now it HAS to go down. The only way it would stay up would be if the oil companies were profiteering pirates or Republican Oil Companies keeping it high to help crush the economy through the election cycle. And we're constantly assured that neither of those is true.

Gas Prices are down 10% over the past 2 months
Oil Prices are down 20% in the same period

When the Oil price rose to it's highest, it was a 31% increase
Gas prices during that time peaked at about 10% higher.

Compared to last august gas and oil prices are about the same.

To put this in a short sentence:

You don't have a clue.

Typically, the gas price has been slower to react to both the peaks and the troughs of the oil prices.

unlikely: So ... consumption has driven demand and the price is up? Up to $83 a barrel from more than $110 earlier when gasoline was at $2/gallon?

When was oil $110/barrel and gas 2$/gallon?

If you are really wondering why the price is falling, the reason is likely due to the relative strength of the dollar.

Dog Welder: And gas prices in this area just jumped 25 cents a gallon over night. It's hard to make sense of any of this. (They'd been steadily decreasing over the past few weeks.)

ditto

unlikely: So ... consumption has driven demand and the price is up? Up to $83 a barrel from more than $110 earlier when gasoline was at $2/gallon?

The Chinese don't put crude in their cars, and crude doesn't magically turn into gasoline. If there's a shortage of refinery capacity, the price of gasoline will go up regardless of the price of crude. This does mean more fat profits for the refineries, of course, but the point is that this isn't price-fixing. Whatever we refuse to buy because it's too expensive, China will until supply-demand equilibrium is reached. Your only real recourse is to limit your gasoline consumption by every practical means. According to data I found on Google, refinery capacity is up 15% over the last 3 years. Not a 15% increase in stupid media "percentage of a percentage" BS. . . up 15%, from around 65% to almost 80%. 80% is basically "full" because up to 20% of any given infrastructure is down for various reasons (maintenance, failure, replacement, etc.). FYI it was actually higher through most of the 90s, but back then oil was less than $20/barrel. It's more relevant to say it's as high as it's ever been over the last decade.

I honestly doubt Big Oil is playing games with the price. Speculators do, which is a problem but a different one. Big Oil's sin is dictating U.S. energy policy almost to the extent of the Dept of Energy rubber-stamping their agenda as official White House policy. If anything you're vastly underestimating their capacity for pathological greed by suggesting they'd do something as childishly amateur as price-fixing. Why do that when you can use the federal government to ensure people have no choice but to rely on oil? Prices go up on their own and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Dog Welder: And gas prices in this area just jumped 25 cents a gallon over night.

Dunno, but anecdotes are anecdotes. In my experience, gas stations will time their price increases on "fill-up" days. Most people fill up Friday-Monday, and I've noticed weekend gas is generally more expensive than if you fill up on Wednesday.

Few people diligently track local gas prices over the long term, so a lot of reaction to gas prices is absurdly psychological. I've seen people scream over a 10-cent jump in gas prices as if that was bankrupting them. Filling up a 20-gallon tank from empty would cost them an extra. . . $2. In most cases the increase for a fill-up is a buck-fifty. Over time that adds up, most people spend more than that daily on coffee.

Then why the hell is gas still so high?

Last time gas was at $80 a barrel, it cost around $2.80 a gallon.

A barrel of crude holds 30 gallons, so at $83/barrel, that's $2.77 a gallon. That oil is not 100% fungible, but it's reasonable to say that the cost of the crude in a gallon of gasoline would be $2.77. Depending on location and taxes, refinined and delivered, gas tends to be 30 to 50 cents higher than the price of crude per gallon. That means that gasoline should be about $3.10 to $3.25 right now if oil was $83/barrel.

That said, if you look here it looks like the price of crude for July/August delivery is more like $88/barrel than $83 which should put gas at $3.45.

Is there anyone who has a graph of historic prices per-barrel of oil versus per-gallon of gas?
That may be interesting.

darcsun: Last time gas OIL was at $80 a barrel, it cost around $2.80 a gallon.

Oil is not gas. The reason it's expensive here? Because we are exporting our gas to foreign countries and they reduce prices as slow as possible.

ghare: jjorsett: Falling oil. Plummeting Baltic Dry Index. Rising unemployment. The economy's "check engine" light is flashing THERE WILL BE NO GOOD NEWS UNTIL THE UPPITY KENYAN IS OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSED.

Yes, yes, we know sweetie, if it was a Republican in office you'd be crowing about the drop in prices.

If oil prices were dropping because we were producing more ON GOVERNMENT LAND where the feds have jurisdiction, then he'd get credit. If they're dropping because the economy is going into the toilet and demand is dropping, then he gets the blame.

I don't give a damn about his race or where he was born (being born to an American citizen makes him a "natural born citizen" no matter where that was). Those are the issues you guys always go back to because otherwise you'd have to talk about why the economy sucks on his watch, why his signature issue health care 'reform' is about to be tossed out by the Supreme Court, why Gitmo is still open, why he's gone from wanting to try terrorists in court to personally selecting them for rubout by drone, etc.

Is someone probing and violating LIndsay again?

I don't buy much light sweet crude these days.

When should I hope they change the gas prices?

Hmmmmm.... maybe... nahhh, gasoline prices couldn't possibly be related to actual ability to make gasoline when compared to the number of people using gasoline.

http://205.254.135.7/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MOCLEUS2& f =M

http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=popu l ation&idim=country:US&dl=en&hl=en&q=us+population

ghare: jjorsett: Falling oil. Plummeting Baltic Dry Index. Rising unemployment. The economy's "check engine" light is flashing THERE WILL BE NO GOOD NEWS UNTIL THE UPPITY KENYAN IS OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSED.

Yes, yes, we know sweetie, if it was a Republican in office you'd be crowing about the drop in prices.

Somebody's sarcasm meter is seriously out of tune.

Hmmmmm.... maybe... nahhh, gasoline prices couldn't possibly be related to actual ability to make gasoline (supply) when compared to the number of people using gasoline (demand).

http://205.254.135.7/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MOCLEUS2& f =M

http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=popu l ation&idim=country:US&dl=en&hl=en&q=us+population

The Muthaship: I don't buy much light sweet crude these days.

When should I hope they change the gas prices?

The gas price is currently $2.23/MMBtu, if you have the right kind of car.

Thank you President Obama for lowering gas prices!

And yet I am still paying almost $4.20/gallon in PDX???

Mr. Eugenides: A barrel of crude holds 30 gallons, so at $83/barrel, that's $2.77 a gallon. That oil is not 100% fungible, but it's reasonable to say that the cost of the crude in a gallon of gasoline would be $2.77. Depending on location and taxes, refinined and delivered, gas tends to be 30 to 50 cents higher than the price of crude per gallon. That means that gasoline should be about $3.10 to $3.25 right now if oil was $83/barrel.

That said, if you look here it looks like the price of crude for July/August delivery is more like $88/barrel than $83 which should put gas at $3.45.

Which is pretty much what it is right now.

Good figgerin.

Witty_Retort: Is there anyone who has a graph of historic prices per-barrel of oil versus per-gallon of gas?
That may be interesting.

Here you go: New Window

jigger: Mr. Eugenides: A barrel of crude holds 30 gallons, so at $83/barrel, that's $2.77 a gallon. That oil is not 100% fungible, but it's reasonable to say that the cost of the crude in a gallon of gasoline would be $2.77. Depending on location and taxes, refinined and delivered, gas tends to be 30 to 50 cents higher than the price of crude per gallon. That means that gasoline should be about $3.10 to $3.25 right now if oil was $83/barrel.

That said, if you look here it looks like the price of crude for July/August delivery is more like $88/barrel than $83 which should put gas at $3.45.

Which is pretty much what it is right now.

Good figgerin.

Yeah, except that wiki and innumerable other sources state that a "barrel of oil" has 42 gallons. Gotta source for that claim of 30 gallons?

jjorsett: ghare: jjorsett: Falling oil. Plummeting Baltic Dry Index. Rising unemployment. The economy's "check engine" light is flashing THERE WILL BE NO GOOD NEWS UNTIL THE UPPITY KENYAN IS OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSED.

Yes, yes, we know sweetie, if it was a Republican in office you'd be crowing about the drop in prices.

If oil prices were dropping because we were producing more ON GOVERNMENT LAND where the feds have jurisdiction, then he'd get credit. If they're dropping because the economy is going into the toilet and demand is dropping, then he gets the blame.

I don't give a damn about his race or where he was born (being born to an American citizen makes him a "natural born citizen" no matter where that was). Those are the issues you guys always go back to because otherwise you'd have to talk about why the economy sucks on his watch, why his signature issue health care 'reform' is about to be tossed out by the Supreme Court, why Gitmo is still open, why he's gone from wanting to try terrorists in court to personally selecting them for rubout by drone, etc DERPDERPDERPLIBSLIBSLIBS.

Yes, yes, sweetie. Libslibslibs. Nothing the Republicans do or have done could be wrong.

/Party of personal responsibility my ass. Just a bunch of whiny little biatches.

Mr. Eugenides: A barrel of crude holds 30 gallons, so at $83/barrel, that's $2.77 a gallon. That oil is not 100% fungible, but it's reasonable to say that the cost of the crude in a gallon of gasoline would be $2.77. Depending on location and taxes, refinined and delivered, gas tends to be 30 to 50 cents higher than the price of crude per gallon. That means that gasoline should be about $3.10 to $3.25 right now if oil was $83/barrel.

That said, if you look here it looks like the price of crude for July/August delivery is more like $88/barrel than $83 which should put gas at $3.45.

First of all, the bbl by which crude oil is measured is 42 gallons, not 30. There are 30-gallon drums used for grease and lubricating oils, but that's a totally different critter.

Secondly, 42 gallons of crude oil typically produces about 44 gallons of product, only about half of which is gasoline. Some of the other by-products are worth more, some are worth less.

Was trying to find a historical graph of oil prices. The only ones I could find end in 2009. I thought the world was ending in 2012, so I'm not sure what this means, but we are probably all on borrowed time.

Dog Welder: And gas prices in this area just jumped 25 cents a gallon over night. It's hard to make sense of any of this. (They'd been steadily decreasing over the past few weeks.)

Spikes are usually blamed on a refinery shutdown, whether due to maintenance or the switching over from a winter blend to a summer blend.

Now let the price drops begin, and continue until they hit 2000-2004 lows. Then make sure those prices stay there.

jjorsett: Those are the issues you guys always go back to because otherwise you'd have to talk about why the economy sucks on his watch,

Because of the hijacking of democracy by filibustering Republicans

jjorsett: why his signature issue health care 'reform' is about to be tossed out by the Supreme Court,

Because activist judges

jjorsett: why Gitmo is still open

Because Republicans refused to fund it

jjorsett: why he's gone from wanting to try terrorists in court to personally selecting them for rubout by drone, etc.

Because he has to be seen as tough on terrorism to go against the typical GOP talking point of a Democrat hating the military

Go away you stupid libertarian shill

jjorsett: Falling oil. Plummeting Baltic Dry Index. Rising unemployment. The economy's "check engine" light is flashing.

You spelled Saudi Arabia wrong

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/saudi-oil-minister-to-ensure-markets - are-supplied-2012-06-11?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Muta: Remember 3 months ago when Obama was being blamed for $104/gallon oil? I guess he should get all the credit for lowing the price then, eh?

I suspect the word you meant to use is "lowering" because the President mooing like a cow when discussing gasoline prices would probably cause a spike in oil prices...I mean, you can't have the leader of the free world making barnyard animal sounds when discussing energy policy. It just isn't done.

Pincy: And yet I am still paying almost $4.20/gallon in PDX???

Farking THIS.

Kuroshin: It's up to $0.50/gal cheaper outside the metro

I live in Centralia, and it's still around $4/gallon.

West coast gas prices have been OUTRAGEOUS compared to the rest of the country, gas taxes notwithstanding.

MugzyBrown: unlikely: That's why gas is so cheap, right?

I mean now it HAS to go down. The only way it would stay up would be if the oil companies were profiteering pirates or Republican Oil Companies keeping it high to help crush the economy through the election cycle. And we're constantly assured that neither of those is true.

Gas Prices are down 10% over the past 2 months
Oil Prices are down 20% in the same period

When the Oil price rose to it's highest, it was a 31% increase
Gas prices during that time peaked at about 10% higher.

Compared to last august gas and oil prices are about the same.

To put this in a short sentence:

You don't have a clue.

Typically, the gas price has been slower to react to both the peaks and the troughs of the oil prices.

Rather than googling and pasting the answer, watch oil prices and the signs at your local gas station, if oil goes up they are out there changing the signs the same day or later that night, but if oil goes down gas may take a couple days to change.

The fact is once gas prices rise and we get used to the inflated prices it will never go down, here in California we have been at $4.00 for so long I cannot see it ever going down to $3.00 again no matter what the price of oil is.

Pincy: And yet I am still paying almost $4.20/gallon in PDX???

There are plenty of places in my hood near SE 82nd where it's $3.65 or less. Try the Freddie's at Johnson Creek.