Gas prices

[ciddyguy]

Saw this yesterday at work as I have access to papers such as the Financial Times that we in the mailroom have to distribute to various people at our site and it was in the FT that I spotted this article on the price of gas and it said something that I've suspected and have resigned myself to be a fact of life these days, but others may or may not agree with it (call it denial perhaps) but in the end, we ALL will have to live with the reality.

The FT stated that while last week's drop in prices didn't make much of a dent in the prices at the pumps, they dropped no more than a few cents as the station I use as a barometer of prices in my area (because it's one of the more expensive stations, but also convenient to spot as it's right off of I-90 in Seattle on my way home) had gas as of last weekend at S4.19 Gal for regular unleaded, now it's $4.15 a Gal. so that part of the article seems right, so far as we don't know how much further it may go, if it does and we won't know that until the weekend I think.

But the article goes on to say that gas will continue to go up, and become even higher, which is where I come in as I've resigned myself with the reality that we may NEVER see gas get below $4 a gal, ever again and thus it seems to be taking up an ever larger part of our budgets and with some paying upwards of $100 per fill up for some of the larger trucks with dual tanks.

We've known for a while now that gas may well get up to $5 a Gal by the end of the year and I've heard that it may even hit $6 a Gal by then.

That said, if this is indeed true as I think it may well be, Fiat and others with small, fuel thrifty vehicles are poised to take advantage of this reality and will do just fine as large trucks, SUV's flounder for most people realize that it's just too expensive to tote their kids around in an Expedition or other large SUV, heck, even some CUV's are just as bad in the mileage department as well and trade in for something MUCH more sensible.

So if this holds true, Fiat's timing could not be better, and it doesn't hurt that the car is super fun to drive and is fairly practical despite being a retro car.

It is reasons like the gas prices, but also due to the age and the mileage accrued on my truck is why I'm working on downsizing my vehicle and hope to find a way to get into a Fiat soon.

[SeaDawg]

Just an FYI.  When I got to Orlando after picking up my car on 11 May in Sarasota FL I filled up with Premium at Sam's Club...$4.059 per gallon.  Filled up today, again at Sam's Club,24 May prior to going back to Sarasota early tomorrow morning to resolve a delivery issue.  Premium $3.899 per gallon.

[ciddyguy]

SeaDawg wrote

Just an FYI.  When I got to Orlando after picking up my car on 11 May in Sarasota FL I filled up with Premium at Sam's Club...$4.059 per gallon.  Filled up today, again at Sam's Club,24 May prior to going back to Sarasota early tomorrow morning to resolve a delivery issue.  Premium $3.899 per gallon.

True, gas HAS gone down since I wrote this but I feel it won't stay down for long. Gas here just dropped to I think $4.07 and WAS at $4.09 and at its height, it was at nearly $4.20 a gal for regular unleaded. If I recall right, with states that require oxiginated gas, prices tend to creep up for its use during the summer months to help compensate for smog and Western Washington is one state that requires it and its use usually comes about around Memorial Day Weekend so we'll see how it fairs next week.

I don't think we'll see the cheap gas much anymore in any event and I'm not the only one who feels that gas prices will eventually go back up, and probably soon too but who knows and really, with gas prices now as volatile as they are, one can't predict with any certain accuracy other than know that eventually, it'll go up due to supply and demand.

[SeaDawg]

ciddyguy wrote

I don't think we'll see the cheap gas much anymore in any event and I'm not the only one who feels that gas prices will eventually go back up, and probably soon too but who knows and really, with gas prices now as volatile as they are, one can't predict with any certain accuracy other than know that eventually, it'll go up due to supply and demand.

Far be it from me to argue with that analysis.  Greed and speculation will assure that prices never get really equal to supply and demand, IMNHO.

[ciddyguy]

SeaDawg wrote

ciddyguy wrote

I don't think we'll see the cheap gas much anymore in any event and I'm not the only one who feels that gas prices will eventually go back up, and probably soon too but who knows and really, with gas prices now as volatile as they are, one can't predict with any certain accuracy other than know that eventually, it'll go up due to supply and demand.

Far be it from me to argue with that analysis.  Greed and speculation will assure that prices never get really equal to supply and demand, IMNHO.

There may well be an element of truth to that but with supplies dwindling, China and other up and coming countries taking a piece of the pie, there is bound to be a straining of supplies as it is, which is where I concede that prices may never be where they once were.

And we can't keep driving gas guzzlers anymore to begin with and I like the idea of only having 10.5Gals to fill up and still do at min, 350 miles on a tank Vs 16.5 Gal's and the same range I have now with my old Ranger truck.