Fuel Prices By wolfhound (Read 2,829 times)

[wolfhound]

I read this morning that fuel pricing in Great Britain has reached $9.00 a gallon due to the Lybia crisis.While a great part of this
cost is in the various taxes that their government applies to fuel
it is still extreme even by European standards.
Keeping in mind that here in the states we pay federal and state taxes on every gallon bought we can anticipate steadily rising fuel
costs here as well. Perhaps not as bad as in England but it could
go higher than what we saw in 2008 during the last gas crisis.
This may help scooter sales if people become desparate enough
but only in the urban areas where they do not have as far to travel. Here in the Atlanta Urban area (pop. 5 million) a great
many people live in the burbs an drive into Atlanta to work, some driving as much as a daily 140 miles round trip.
In England even rail transportation is costing far more than it did
before. So any way that you look at it here it is going to cost the
American driver a lot more than he has been used to paying. Car
pooling is going to become a way of life for many.
As of today the highest fuel pricing is at a BP station in Canton, GA. The three grades are running $3.40, $3.60, $3.80. The other
stations are running a bit under that but not by much.
A good guess would be to expect $5.00 a gallon for super by Memorial Day.
Ride On!!!

[ccprof]

I think we're going to take it in the neck with both gas prices and prices for everything else going up. I think we're going to see another upswing in scooter purchases.

[wolfhound]

I agree!!

[madcollie]

Feb 26, 2011 6:36:51 GMT -6 ccprof said:

I think we're going to take it in the neck with both gas prices and prices for everything else going up.

Professor, I am thinking the same thing only a few feet lower.

Our city bus system announced they will be raising fares again. One reason, the rising price of gas due to the Libian crisis.

Funny, our city buses run on natural gas.

M/C

[mauiboy]

It's not quite that bad, their gallons are bigger and their car engines are smaller and return higher mpg (at least anything in the last 10 years) on average. We has a small turbo diesel that would return 65+mpg (real world) and had no problem returning over a ton and was awesome for passing at any speed due to the torque.
The real gotcha in the UK is its not one tax, its 2. Theres fuel duty which is per litre AND sales tax which is a percentage of the cost, so when the fuel price rises duty to the oil price the sales tax makes more money AND because the duty is a fix cost they govt gets to say in real terms the tax is lower this week than last week. So basically, they get it all ways. When fuel drops they often find a need to escalate the duty.
The 'upside' is as a % compared to the states a fuel crisis doesnt push the cost as high because its only affecting maybe 30% of the cost and not 80% of the cost.
Gas is going to keep going up, I dont doubt that soon we will see who really needs their f150 and for whom it is a tonka embellishment device. Once they are off the road theres more room for scoots!

[mcalli]

Guys, lets face it. It is the supple and demand with a large greed factor. Gas is something we all have to have to the oil companies stick it to us. It really has nothing to do with libia or any thing else. That is just their excuse. The CEO/s of gas companies make multimillions a year in income, bonuses and stock. And by multimillions I am talking 10 million or more total. Who needs an income that high? Really, gas prices are the fleecing of the world. Look what the middle east charges per barrel when exporting to england, america, etc. And their own people can buy gas in their country for 50 cents a gallon or less. Look at British Petroleums CEO's total income (including salary, bonuses, and stock) and you will see what I mean. We need it, they stick it to us. It is that simple. Even taking away the taxes, we are still paying through the nose and so are other countries (except for oil producing middle east ) It is nothing more than GREED, GREED, GREED.

[ccprof]

And the really aggravating thing is most of our oil actually comes from Canada.

[kz1000st]

Watch. They can stab us now because the winter weather for most of us stinks, so we have to use our cars. When the warmer weather comes people will be climbing back on their motorcycles and scooters. Suddenly there will be a few billion gallons of gasoline languishing in tanks all over the place and price will drop again. It happened in 2008, it will happen this year. You'll see.

[wolfhound]

Remember that we pay double taxes on the gas we buy, both state and federal. We are not as bad off yet as Europe but our pride in being bested fuel cost wise by the Euros has been
badly bruised. We MUST raise state and federal fuel taxes so we can how them that we being hurt worse than they are. It is a matter of national pride.
(Oh dear, is it time for my meds again??)

[mauiboy]

Feb 26, 2011 13:43:42 GMT -6 ccprof said:

And the really aggravating thing is most of our oil actually comes from Canada.

Yeah whats that aboot?

Fuel prices could double over the next year and the world would keep turning. People would just need to get over the need for insanely sized vehicles to make up for tiny tonkas. Us poor buggers in the pacific would find it tough to use ac so much as we tend to rely on diesel generator power stations, but as power becomes more expensive alternatives like wind and wave become more attractive. High oil prices are the best thing that could happen to the environment.
There are folks here who feel the need for a f350 for no other reason than to take their boards to the beach and attract bar flies, and there are those that mod their scoots to take a board (the smaller the board the bigger the kahoonies).
My biggest worry is that the oil companies have been quietly been buying all the patents for important renewable technologies (its what I would do if i was them and with billions in profits and a dwindling supply of resources) so we will end up paying no matter what.
The USA is without a doubt a great country, but when I read the constitution and the amendments and listen to the anthem, then I look around me, there is a gulf between the aspirations and the reality (to be fair this is common in many countries). A disconnect has emerged between work and reward. Money begets money, work begets work.

Sic semper tyrannis.

[wolfhound]

What MB just said!!! Agreed.

[mcalli]

mb is stating the same thing. money begets money. work begets work. but I would add that greed begets more greed.

[wolfhound]

Local gas prices are going up weekly and now are at a low range of $3.30, 3.50, 3.70 and
a high range at ten cents above these prices across the board. We have seen regular go from $2.30 to $3.30 today. That is a $1.00 increase in 6 months. And you aint seen nothin
yet!!!

[kz1000st]

You guys down south at least can now ride. We had a high of 25 today, the roads are white with salt and my driveway still has a thick coating of ice, not to mention the iceberg in front of the garage door.

[tvnacman]

well at least your scooter is running