Gas prices jump 18 cents

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: CNN.com

(CNN) -- Gas prices jumped more than 18 cents over the past two weeks to a national average of $2.79 a gallon of self-serve regular, a national survey said Sunday.

That marks a rise of 60 cents since late January, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the "Lundberg Survey," which tallies prices every two to three weeks at about 5,000 gas stations.

The current price is about 12 cents higher than it was a year ago, but still 24 cents lower than the record high set last August, she said. The latest surveys were carried out April 6 and March 23.

Lundberg attributed the price increases to problems at several refineries that cut gasoline production at a time of rising demand. For example, Valero Energy Corp. (Charts) shut the nation's largest refinery in McKee, Texas, after a fire on Feb. 16. Though company officials are predicting a partial return to production within days, a full resumption is not expected until late in the year, she said.



Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/08/news/economy/gasprices/index.htm

[Double T]

1. The oil and gasoline companies have MORE FEEBLE excuses........

for screwing the consumer; prices in this area are $2.91/gallon for 87 octane regular gasoline with ALL other grades NOW ABOVE $3.00+/gallon. Time to look into the purchase of a small engine motorcycle.

[merwin]

4. Lucky, we've been $3.10+ for 87 for a few weeks now in Seattle.

[AdHocSolver]

25. The auto companies and the oil companies are promoting a fraud and here is how.

With the technology that was available over twenty years ago, the auto companies could have produced cars and trucks that would get much better gas mileage than they do today. They chose not to do so. After the Arab oil embargo of the mid-1970's, the auto companies downsized the size and weight of their products and reduced oil consumption through improved auto design and therefore reduced Middle East oil imports by as much as twenty percent. Part of the reason they improved gasoline mileage was because Congress passed mandatory mileage standards that the auto companies had to meet (CAFE standard).

Besides weight reduction, autos from the 1980's onward gained technological improvements.
For a comparable size and weight car or truck, these improvements should have brought about much better gas mileage across the board. Yet they didn't, and this could only be because the auto companies wanted your car to waste fuel to keep the demand, and hence the price, higher.

As a comparison, years ago, I owned a 1964 full-sized Ford, a really nice, and big (4000+ pounds), car. It had lots of room and a big trunk. It was old technology. In warm weather, I easily got 14 to 15 miles per gallon around town and 17 to 19 mpg on the highway. Many comparably sized cars and trucks today, with all the improved technolgy, can't do much better than that. Some can't do as well. This has to be by design.

There is a movie floating around called (something like) "Who Killed the Electric Car?" It's about a fleet of electric cars that was test driven by people in California. Most of these cars were manufactured by General Motors. They used batteries that were recharged when the cars were parked. They were good looking. They used no oil and produced no pollution. The people who drove them loved them. They proved so popular that GM cancelled the test, took back all the cars, and had the cars destroyed.

One last comment about the FRAUD being cooked up by the auto companies and the oil companies today.
They want you to believe that they are developing the transportation technology of the future that will eliminate YOUR dependence on gasoline, reduce pollution, and save you money. Their solution is hydrogen-fueled cars. Don't you believe it.

Hydrogen car technology is years away from being perfected.
Meanwhile, the oil companies can rake in record profits selling you ever higher-priced gasoline for your car from ever decreasing oil supplies. That is precisely why they want hydrogen cars to be the new standard.

Hybrid car technology and electric car technology are available and cost effective today. Mass production and economies of scale would make hybrid and electric vehicles comparable in cost to old technology cars.

Electric cars cost much less to maintain and therefore would save you money:
Electric motors are much simpler in design than gasoline engines, have far fewer parts, require less maintenance (no tune-ups, no oil changes, can be air cooled, do not rquire complex and expensive transmissions). Of course, this means your expenses for maintenance and repairs, a big factor in auto manufacturers, dealers, and oil company profits would drop substantially. Therefore, your total cost of ownership for an electric car would be the same if not less than for a gasoline powered car.

Hydrogen powered cars would still keep you dependent on the oil companies for fuel. You would have to stop at their stations to fill up. Hydrogen producing "refineries" would get shut down periodically causing an "unavoidable rise" in prices at the pump, etc., etc.

[entanglement]

2. Part of the surge, I suppose

n/t

[lostnotforgotten]

3. Peak Oil Folks - It Is Upon Us Now Or Very Soon - Listen To Simmons Here

www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=266&topic_id=2329&mesg_id=2329

[regnaD kciN]

5. Blah, blah, blah...

More like {i}Peak Greed, I'd say...

[lostnotforgotten]

7. Funny How Some People Never Take The Time To Follow The Links

Wonder what that says about them?

[NickB79]

20. Well, duh, oil is a never-ending resource, right?

It's not like it's a non-renewable resource of finite supply that was created millions of years ago, right? It's not like ALL the large oil fields in the world are entering decline DESPITE record-high prices and demand, right? The Earth's center is obviously a gooey nugget of never-ending oil that will power our F250's and Suburbans until the Sun explodes 3 billion years from now.

[brokensymmetry]

9. I agree completely. Peak is here.

Light sweet crude peaked in 2006. Crude and condensates
look as if they may peak after the second quarter this
year.

And after the present bumpy plateau will come the cliff.

But I've pretty much given up on telling people. They
don't want to hear it, and it's too late to mitigate
anyway. It's going to be a hard crash, IMO.

[Mojorabbit]

16. I agree

and you are right, no one wants to hear about it.

[regnaD kciN]

6. A strange quote...

The current price is about 12 cents higher than it was a year ago, but still 24 cents lower than the record high set last August, she said.

I don't quite see how that's good news...all that would imply is that, come August, it will be 36 cents higher than now. :-(

[Ian David]

8. Congress is in recess, so sure. Why not? n/t

[SpiralHawk]

10. Thanks a pantload, republicon OIL cronies

for padding your own wallets while stealing from the citizens of the United States of America.

Why do republicons hate America?

[MemphisTiger]

11. I've heard neocons trying to pin this on the democratic congress

specifically pelosi... It's funny how quick they change their tune from market driven to congress's fault.

[shanti]

12. $2.79?? i WISH

i was paying $2.79! it's at least $3.20 here in sacramento :mad:

[april]

14. ditto!

[ohio2007]

15. current price on Monday here is $2.71/gal

And they say it's that high because the refineries must add expensive summer season additives !
such BS cuz in October they will say "expensive winter additives must be added" !
it never ends

Lowest Price: $2.39 - Missouri------ Highest Price: $3.16 - California -----National Average: $2.59

http://www.csigasprices.com/?gclid=CMDQzuaFtosCFRRnYAodCmap0Q

Cheap fill ups can be found

[ProudDad]

28. $3,25 for regular here in Oakland n/t

[Javaman]

13. Boil that frog,hey! Boil that frog,hey! Boil that frog,hey! Boil that frog,hey!

Cantarell is crashing but do we hear about that in the news? We get as much oil from Mexico as we do from Saudi Arabia.

However do we hear that the Cantarell oil field lost 15% of it's production out put last year? nooooooooooooooooooooo.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

get ready folks for $4.00+ gas prices this summer...if we are lucky.

isn't non-conservation fun?

"Lundberg attributed the price increases to problems at several refineries that cut gasoline production at a time of rising demand. For example, Valero Energy Corp. (Charts) shut the nation's largest refinery in McKee, Texas, after a fire on Feb. 16. Though company officials are predicting a partial return to production within days,"

Yeahhhhhh, oil fire...yeahhhhh cut demand...

"a full resumption is not expected until late in the year, she said."

Don't you see what's happening here????

prices sky rocket this summer, they "bring it back online" in the fall (when production usually drops off) then prices "drop" to 3 bucks a gallon. "whew, that was close I'm so glad it's affordable again"

boil that frog, hey! boil that frog, hey! boil that frog, hey! boil that frog, hey! boil that frog, hey! boil that frog, hey!

[brokensymmetry]

22. Boil that frog, truly.

So accurate, but funny.

Intelligent people like you, Javaman, are
one of the reasons I treasure DU.

[dethl]

17. Gas is $2.79/gallon here in southern New Mexico

Went up 9 cents overnight.

[damntexdem]

18. Yeah, refineries always experience problems ...

when the companies want to raise the prices.

[go west young man]

19. Please dems quit subsidizing these assholes.

Let the market decide and I believe it will decide on renewable energy.

[CatholicEdHead]

21. The trend the past few years is a rise to Memorial Day

Then a peak and then a slow fall over summer. I can see $3.25 easily in the Minnesota/Wisconsin/North Dakota area by the end of May.

Of course any major incidents (e.g. Iran attack) will only make it much, much worse.

[bigwillq]

23. I paid $2.95/gal for reg.

here in CT. :mad:

[Xenotime]

24. This is out of control...

* has allowed big to line their pockets again. I HATE THIS SHIT!!!

[sofa king]

26. They've got to jack us this year because next year they have to go easy on us.

What with 2008 being a Presidential election year and all.

[ProudDad]

27. Let's see if I've got this Supply and Demand thing right

Crude oil prices have dropped about 17% since the middle of last year while gas prices have increased by over 30%.

Ok, I think I've got it....nope, don't got it... :shrug:

[pinniped]

29. It has been peak oil since the assholes stole the (s)election.

.

[ProudDad]

30. I'd be willing to pay $4.00 a gallon or more

if at least half of it were going for mitigation of the harm burning fossil fuels cause and alternative energy research.


I object strenuously to the kind of profit margin the oil companies are making.