lexus114

Just curious, how long is everyone that uses premium fuel going to hold out before switching to regular 4.75,5.00? I`m holding on as long as I can,but not sure how much longer.

thomas1

Its already at $4.19 here in California.... Sucks bigtime, just like all of our politicians....

lexus114

Well.northeast Pa is rite at 3.95-4.01/Gallon for premium.Of course memorial day is almost here,and we all know what that means.

kasak

Just heard on CNN that crude is $129 barrel right now and senior gas industry person predicts it will go until $150 or more and there won't be any kind of change or slow down until Sept. Just scary. I hope all realize that reducing the demand for gas is the only efficient way and only way we have...
* reduce the travel - reduce no of trips to groceries etc, car pool,
I wonder when (what price of gas) will people really think about reducing the consumption?
$6 diff to fill in premium Vs filling in premium. I am glad that Rx300s don't require premium.

bob2200

I just topped up my tank with regular unleaded yesterday for $3.729/gal.

My personal theory is that it is partly tied to our Presidential election cycle and partly the result of the weak U.S. dollar. Remember, the dollar is down maybe 40% or more from some other currencies in the past few years.

I met a guy from Toronto, Canada, two days ago and he said that gasoline prices (in US dollars vs. US gallons) was even higher up there.

lexus114

Yeah I wonder when people are going to cut back on driving too.Where I live you wouldnt believe the gas prices are so high,their are more cars on the road now than ever before! It just doesnt affect some people I guess.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Even at this price, gas today is twice the inflation adjusted price it ever was during the 1970's and 1980's shortages. Sadly, I blame George W for not turning the heat up on the oil companies (and I'm a Republican)!

Lexmex

I don't blame him, rather I blame China and India's new consumerism for the increase. However, the oil companies not keeping up with that new demand is another thing.

In Florida, I am already seeing over $4 a gallon for super unleaded.

lexus114

sktn, I also feel that with our government sitting on their hands,their is absolutely nothing to keep it from rising into oblivion.Why we dont drill our own oil here is beyond me.And I thought the Alaskan pipe line was to help relieve this problem.Instead just another pipe dream

kasak

Are you saying their (China's & India's) demand is increased? If so, all of a sudden?

lexus114

Yup! China and India are a big time demand on crude now.Of course China is rising up because of us.Heck,everything is made their now.Hence some of the reason our jobless rate is the way it is.Let`s not get into too much political debating here,I started the thread because I was wondering how many people were still going with premium fuel.And if so,what price was going to be their deciding factor to switch to regular?

rx300mm

I have been using regular gas in my 2001 Rx300 for over 4yrs now .. runs just fine .. psst .. it doesn't know there is better grade out there.

lexus114

(psst .. it doesn't know there is better grade out there.)I hear ya,keep it that way right? Mine is spoiled now.

AlexusAnja

I look at premium as this... if you've been using it, you've used it for a reason. Whether you think it's better (grade, detergency, etc.) or you need it because your vehicle requires premium. Either way, nothing changes when the price of fuel rises. The number of cents different from say regular to premium is still about $0.25/gal difference, back when it was $2, or now where it's $4. So, if you look at it percentage wise, premium is actually "cheaper" now than regular. Also, if you drive 15K miles per year, given 18 mpg average, that's 834 gallons x .25 = $208.5 a year. In the whole grand scheme of things, that's not much savings per year. You'd probably save more by just eating out less or turning your heat down 1 degree in the house.

Lil4X

Gas prices have achieved a "perfect storm" - a confluence of rising demand in the third world where emerging consumer economies are being subsidized by the state, driving consumption upward - over 30% in the last four years for China. Elsewhere, falling production thanks to the last two years' storms in the deep basins of the Gulf of Mexico and suspension of drilling both onshore and on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore.

Add to this our elimination of MTBE and replacement with ethanol to reduce ozone emissions in our cities, and it's production swing into high gear for the summer months. (Ethanol was never meant to be "gasoline helper" to get prices down, it's actually more expensive and less efficient than the MTBE it replaces)

Now our limited refinery capacity is stretched to the limit producing distillates (diesel, heating oil, and jet fuel), reducing availability and increasing demand for motor gasoline.

Top this with international oil speculators bidding up the futures on crude oil, and you have an out of control upward price spiral.

HOWEVER there is good news on the horizon. First the major oil companies have calibrated their business models for oil in the $70-$80/bbl range. (With over 50% of our crude oil now being imported, big oil is in the same boat we are - sending billions of dollars to the Middle East to continue to receive their feedstocks) No oil company or market analyst believes the market will support these inflated oil prices for long.

Nigeria is just now bringing major offshore production back on stream following terrorist attacks on their facilities. The giant Thunder Horse field in the deep Gulf is returning to production this August after a two year shutdown for storm damage. The even larger Jake Field just southeast of Thunder Horse will be coming on stream in a couple of years, as will major new offshore production from Petrobras in Brazil. While all of these new discoveries and restored production will make crude more available, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations are slowly opening the oil tap to raise production.

There is a self-limiting factor in oil prices too - one you're involved in. As gas approaches $4/gal, we are driving less, resulting in a growing bubble of (dare we say?) overproduction, which is beginning to apply market pressure to force prices down. Prices that have nearly doubled in the last year are now squeezing out the new third-world markets, further drying up demand. The investment house, Lehman Bros. has just announced new figures that indicate oil will return to $100/bbl by the end of this year, and continue to slide into the $80 range in 2009.

I'm no expert on the timing of these events, but it makes sense to me. As of last week at the world's largest convention of the oil industry, most participants were unperturbed by the spike in oil prices. They are still prepared to do business at the $70-$80 level and see this current over-speculation as transitory. Will we see gas drop back below $3/gallon this year? There are a lot of models out there that say "yes", but little consensus on whether the price will gradually ease or plummet to new lows very quickly.