Gas Running Out!

[Kassiana]

Wow. It's gone "down" to $3.19/gallon here.

And no, I couldn't afford to go to Mexico in order to get "cheaper" gas. Nor could I afford to go to Canada and spend hours in Customs on the way back, with suspicious American officials questioning me about my reasons for going to Canada to begin with.

My parents just got back from a trip to Niagara Falls. I have to say, based on their trip, that the American side isn't the best one to be on.

 

[oggbashan]

99.9 pence a litre

Our local gas station has posted prices of 99.9 pence a litre. They can't go higher than that until the pumps have been altered. The sign already has. Yesterday the sign could only show two figures pence and decimals of pence. Today it has a so far unused digit for pounds as well.

Once the pumps are changed? I have no idea what the price will be.

Og

 

[LadyJeanne]

Our local gas station has posted prices of 99.9 pence a litre. They can't go higher than that until the pumps have been altered. The sign already has. Yesterday the sign could only show two figures pence and decimals of pence. Today it has a so far unused digit for pounds as well.

Once the pumps are changed? I have no idea what the price will be.

Og

The sky's the limit once that happens...

 

[oggbashan]

The sky's the limit once that happens...

Don't I know it. The current price is equal to 6.83 dollars for a US gallon.

Og

 

[hotchkiss]

Don't I know it. The current price is equal to 6.83 dollars for a US gallon.

Og

Hmmm, yes but our cars do many more miles to the gallon than the tin tanks so it works out more equal

 

[oggbashan]

UK Car manufacturers' ambition

Hmmm, yes but our cars do many more miles to the gallon than the tin tanks so it works out more equal

From the early 1930s to the end of the 1950s the golden target for the UK's car manufacturers was a family car that could carry four adults at a steady 50 miles per hour using 50 miles per gallon (An imperial gallon is 4.54 litres, more than a US gallon).

The first Austin 7 achieved 50 mpg but not 50 mph and four adults was overloading the car. Later versions were heavier and less efficient. It has been said that the price of wisdom is above Rubies. (Austin Ruby(s)

The Morris Minor with the 803cc overhead valve engine achieved that target. So did the Austin A30 and the Standard 8. The small engined (350cc) Citroen 2CV managed that even if the passengers were scared stiff at 50 mph.

Then the first UK motorway was opened. 50 mph wasn't fast enough. The new target was 50 mpg at a steady 70 mph. Some cars have achieved that - the first 850cc Mini could just do it. Later larger engined Minis missed the 50 mpg target.

There have been and are cars sold in the UK that will carry four adults and cruise at 70 mph using fuel at the rate of 50 mpg. However they are small and light. Travelling any distance, particularly US style distances, in them would be uncomfortable and noisy especially for the back seat passengers. Most drivers would feel unsafe in such a car on a motorway full of heavy trucks.

The target has been met with lightweight cars using small fast-revving engines. Even lower fuel consumption is possible with the use of lightweight materials.

Would you like to be driving a plastic car if a heavy truck was travelling at 60 mph inches from your rear end?

There are no easy solutions. Almost any car has to be a compromise between weight, power, size and fuel consumption. US cars may evolve slightly faster as a result of Katrina but they will still be designed for US highways and US distances.

The popularity of SUVs could change overnight if the US authorities classed them with cars and imposed the same efficiency requirements. Locally I have seen the price of used SUVs drop significantly in the last 6 months. I think the current fuel price rises might make some models unsaleable.

Anyone for a cheap hummer?

Og

 

[Guest]

Anyone for a cheap hummer?

Og

(I have no comment, dear Og.)

 

[TheEarl]

Our local gas station has posted prices of 99.9 pence a litre. They can't go higher than that until the pumps have been altered. The sign already has. Yesterday the sign could only show two figures pence and decimals of pence. Today it has a so far unused digit for pounds as well.

Once the pumps are changed? I have no idea what the price will be.

Og

Jesus Ogg, unlucky mate. I filled up my fuel tank at 92.9 today and counted myself lucky. Has anywhere hit the magic pound mark yet? I remember seeing new service stations with a third digit back when petrol was 'only' 79p/litre. (about 6 months ago).

The Earl

 

[snowhugs]

the news had a place in kent as 104p a litre

 

[velvetpie]

Went up as high as $3.09 and is back down to $2.99 today. We laid in a stockpile just in case and spent $100 doing it. Being self-employed, my hubby can't afford to not have a tankful of gas.

It's also great that the oil prices have dropped and will help alleviate the fears that everyone has. I don't think anyone can forget the recession and the long lines at the gas stations and how eerily they mirrored those of the gas lines that we're seeing today. I hope they keep going down!

 

[entitled]

<hijack> Going down is a GOOD thing! </hijack>

I'm just glad we got my car tuned up before this hit. i'm now getting about 25 mpg, which is not bad at all for one of the larger 1994 sedans. Gas prices went back down to almost $3 a gallon here for the 'cheap' stuff, but there's one station in town that gives premium gas at regular prices on Mondays. Guess where we went today?

 

[entitled]

Now, just to poke fun at the fellow Americans (yes, this includes me)...

http://toccionline.kizash.com/films/1001/178/

 

[cantdog]

The popularity of SUVs could change overnight if the US authorities classed them with cars and imposed the same efficiency requirements. Locally I have seen the price of used SUVs drop significantly in the last 6 months. I think the current fuel price rises might make some models unsaleable.

Anyone for a cheap hummer?

Og

Not could, has already. People need to move heavy things, not just themselves, some of them. There's a hybrid with capacity. It looks better to people by quite a damn bit, right now.

People who basically need to only move people, not equipment and supplies, are already trying to dump the monsters. (Something we've been asking them to do for some years, now, to no effect.) The rising prices are the friend of the earth.

 

[cantdog]

Went up as high as $3.09 and is back down to $2.99 today. We laid in a stockpile just in case and spent $100 doing it. Being self-employed, my hubby can't afford to not have a tankful of gas.

It's also great that the oil prices have dropped and will help alleviate the fears that everyone has. I don't think anyone can forget the recession and the long lines at the gas stations and how eerily they mirrored those of the gas lines that we're seeing today. I hope they keep going down!

Still going up, here. $3.25, $3.65.

 

[Alex756]

Not could, has already. People need to move heavy things, not just themselves, some of them. There's a hybrid with capacity. It looks better to people by quite a damn bit, right now.

People who basically need to only move people, not equipment and supplies, are already trying to dump the monsters. (Something we've been asking them to do for some years, now, to no effect.) The rising prices are the friend of the earth.

There is a smallish SUV hybred, at least one, and I know FORD will have a cargo van hybred soon if not now, It was developed at the same time as the escape, so I assume it'll be hitting markets soon unless I missed it happening.

Hybreds are getting better, but there are also trucks and cars that will run on things besides gas from petroleum.

-Alex

 

[TheEarl]

Not could, has already. People need to move heavy things, not just themselves, some of them. There's a hybrid with capacity. It looks better to people by quite a damn bit, right now.

People who basically need to only move people, not equipment and supplies, are already trying to dump the monsters. (Something we've been asking them to do for some years, now, to no effect.) The rising prices are the friend of the earth.

One of the rare examples where amicus's simplistic market theory holds. The market will adjust.

The Earl

 

[glynndah]

The only gas station in town is holding steady at $3.69 per gallon which is higher than some of the nearby (within 40 miles) towns which had gas at $2.99 on Sunday. This station always was slightly higher than most others. Our gas station has also imposed a 10 gallon limit. I think this is because it is a small station and they're worried about getting resupplied.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Seems to be holding fairly steady at 3.19. Has been for two days, I think.

Q_C

 

[oggbashan]

Down a penny.

The two local gas (petrol) stations have reduced their prices from 99.9 pence a litre to 98.9 pence today.

That will save me about a dollar fifty on a tankful.

Og

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

Ours held steady at $3.05 for a couple of days and has now gone down to $2.99.

 

[sophia jane]

Some places are as low as 2.89 here, tho most are still at 2.99.

 

[timmywells]

$3.39 and holding in NY. The only stations that ran out are the honest ones that didn't gouge their customers by raising prices on the gas they had.

Some reports over the weekend of fights at the pumps and police called to get rid of irate customers screaming at people that work at the gas stations.

What kind of gashole would harass some kid making 6 bucks an hour? It's not like they're on commission.

 

[cantdog]

Stew in it. Condi, Bush, Cheney and the gang are loving this. They have an ironclad excuse to jack it up now.

People were a little unclear how come grabbing by force the second largest oil reserves in the world was making prices rise by 50% and more. If we have more, what the fuck keeps it costing more? If the war secures us from dependency on overseas oil, then is it our own oil men who are raising the price? They were willing to bear with it, but the mechanism of the rise was unclear to the man in the street.

This is pretty darn straightforward. Storm damage, lost refinery capacity, demolished oil rigs. All crystal clear. Politically, it's smooth sailing now for the oil giants to clean right up. Not so much for the President himself, but he's a lame duck anyway.

 

[LadyJeanne]

Stew in it. Condi, Bush, Cheney and the gang are loving this. They have an ironclad excuse to jack it up now.

People were a little unclear how come grabbing by force the second largest oil reserves in the world was making prices rise by 50% and more. If we have more, what the fuck keeps it costing more? If the war secures us from dependency on overseas oil, then is it our own oil men who are raising the price? They were willing to bear with it, but the mechanism of the rise was unclear to the man in the street.

This is pretty darn straightforward. Storm damage, lost refinery capacity, demolished oil rigs. All crystal clear. Politically, it's smooth sailing now for the oil giants to clean right up. Not so much for the President himself, but he's a lame duck anyway.

Don't you worry about the Bush clan. I'm sure their diversified stock portfolio includes some oil, black gold, and Texas tea...

As for politics and who might benefit from happy oil giants, well...

"Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin' crude."

 

[Xelebes]

The prices have evened out at 113.0 cents a litre.