5 dollar gas...are we ready?

[unofan]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

In a note of irony or coincidence, I was just pulled aside by my boss and told that this summer I'll be bird dogging all the mileage logs and fleet fuel card reports to make sure that there isn't any mishandling of company funds for fuel.

When prices got bad three years ago, one of our technicians was caught putting 24 gallons of gas into a 18 gallon tank. Repeatedly.

Now, I get to be the company's watchdog for this.

It's also a bit ironic that this post comes a day after oil prices dropped 3%.

I doubt we'll hit $5/gallon as a national average. I'm sure there will be localized spots where that happens, but frankly around here I'll be shocked it gets above $4.25 here, even over the 4th of July weekend. My guess is the national average doesn't hit $4.50 at any point this summer.

Here's the other thing to consider. A jump from $1.50 to $3.00/gallon is a 100% difference. The jump from $3.00 to $4.50 is only a 50% increase. Yes, it causes everything else to jump, but even though in nominal terms it's as big a jump, percentage wise it's not even close.

If it means fewer SUV's on the road, great. Otherwise my wife and I both have cars that get 30+ mpg and I only drive 2 miles to a park and ride to catch a bus to work during the week. We spend maybe $150/month on gas combined. Not going to kill us if it jumps to $200/month.

[walrus]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

Natural gas is a different beast from oil and wood ( or whichever) . For one, the United states sits on huge reserves - the IEA estimates some 32,000 trillion cubic feet of the stuff on globally with 2074 TCF in the USA. Thats equivalent to 6 trillion barrels of oil worldwide and 0.4 trillion in the USA. ( "IEA doubles global gas reserves estimates," BBC, January 20, 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12245633.). The beauty is that the more we get, the more we discover. The IEA predicted half the world reserves as early as 2008. For only a couple of years, thats amazing! I think I have sufficient reason to believe that natural gas will not track the prices of oil, even if demand increases. Actually, this might force us to leverage this natural resource much more. While I am not for subsidizing energy, if they have to subsidize something, better NG than corn ethanol or the similar.

Better read up on Fracking Natural gas wells before you get too excited about Natural gas. We have alot of it but if the price of oil stays up, natural gas will follow a BTU is a BTU. Trucking companies will start using it causing another huge demand on it. We pee away tons of it making electricity with it and now with Japan no Nuke plant will ever be built in the US so we'll continue to waste a portable fuel.

[Kepler]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

Now, I get to be the company's watchdog for this.

They know how to handle guys like you in the joint.

[unh_hockey]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

Better read up on Fracking Natural gas wells before you get too excited about Natural gas. We have alot of it but if the price of oil stays up, natural gas will follow a BTU is a BTU. Trucking companies will start using it causing another huge demand on it. We pee away tons of it making electricity with it and now with Japan no Nuke plant will ever be built in the US so we'll continue to waste a portable fuel.

I have read up too much, which is why I am a pretty strong supporter of NG. Its a bit complicated and beyond the scope of this thread, so i'll keep this response shorter than normal. I would like to see NG displace coal considering how dirty goal is, and how bad mountaintop strip mining is. From what I hear, getting the permits to drill is a pain and can be costly. Sure, NG has its hurdles, but doesn't every energy source? Look at nuclear. No arguement there.

Why do I like it? Because its here, its usable, and provides energy on the scale we need it. The american economy needs readily available energy sources which are cost effective solutions when compared to oil ( once it becomes scarce).

[bigmrg74]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

In a note of irony or coincidence, I was just pulled aside by my boss and told that this summer I'll be bird dogging all the mileage logs and fleet fuel card reports to make sure that there isn't any mishandling of company funds for fuel.

When prices got bad three years ago, one of our technicians was caught putting 24 gallons of gas into a 18 gallon tank. Repeatedly.

Now, I get to be the company's watchdog for this.

Wow!!!! Honestly, fell it up halfway and then fill your gas can as well.

seems to be hovering at around 3.99 right now across most of SE Michigan. I do hope that it stays there a bit, with nobody wanting to be the first ones to break the Four Dollar mark.

Would somebody in Libya take out Gahdaffi already??

[SteveP]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

This is why I am bringing 2008 up in this conversation. There were huge cutbacks at my company starting in Q4 08, which continued to Q2 09 which eventually landed me in the unemployment line.

Same here -- I've been full-time unemployed since Jan. 09 and these past few months have been the worst, with no help from the price at the pumps around here.
Both of our cars run on 93 octane, which is running right around $4 per gallon.

The Feds are predicting an average gasoline cost of 3.86 over the summer for whats it worth, the media is hyping 5 buck a gallon gas.

What irritates me is that in 08 the media was screaming about rising gas prices and how they were all the fault of the Bush administration. Today -- stone silence from the media, even though prices have soared past those in 08.

Go figure!

[Twitch Boy]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

As a Jeep Wrangler owner, NO I AM NOT.

This is just another sign that Twitch Boy Cannot Have Nice Things.

[joecct]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

It's not Libya, it's the dollar that is dropping against other world currencies. Five years ago or so, the Loonie was $0.65 US, now it is $1.04. Gold has gone through the roof. Those Arab shieks can't buy the same amount of Mercedes with a barrel of oil than they used to. So, the price goes up because they need to keep the Mercedes plants open.

I don't have it handy but can somebody look up the historical price of oil / oz. of gold? I wonder if it a flat curve?

So Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, and other ilks of the Federal Government, what are you going to do to restore the vitality of the $??

[Kepler]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

It's not Libya, it's the dollar that is dropping against other world currencies. Five years ago or so, the Loonie was $0.65 US, now it is $1.04. Gold has gone through the roof. Those Arab shieks can't buy the same amount of Mercedes with a barrel of oil than they used to. So, the price goes up because they need to keep the Mercedes plants open.

I don't have it handy but can somebody look up the historical price of oil / oz. of gold? I wonder if it a flat curve?

Not far off:

*****http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/files/OilGold1.png******

I assume they are both getting more expensive to exploit by about the same rate as well. Although nobody* talks about "peak gold."

* Edit: I stand corrected. Of course -- since there is NOTHING that nobody talks about. (Caveat: this appears to be from a gold bug site and so the Fruitcake Ratio is likely quite high.)

[bronconick]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

I'm eagerly awaiting "Peak Fruitcake", because no one wants that crap.

[joecct]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

I wonder if we sent that to Congress and the US Treasury a lightbulb or two may go off.

Nope, not a chance.

BTW, does the price of oil follow the price of gold or is it the other way around??

[The Rube]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

As a Jeep Wrangler owner, NO I AM NOT.

This is just another sign that Twitch Boy Cannot Have Nice Things.

As a Jeep Wrangler owner, I DON'T CARE.

Why? I've lived within about 12 miles of my workplace since about '97, including a 2-3 years where I was 2 miles from my workplace. I'll be honest, it was a factor in buying my gas-guzzler in '01 (it's a '99 Wrangler; currently a hair under 80K on it).

On average, I probably go through 1/2 to 2/3 a tank a week, depending on what I do on the weekend.

[Patman]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

Go figure!

Those same people also talked about how moral $8-10 gas would be for society.... they honestly think it'll make us better people. And then you wonder why I think they're totalitarian goose steppers.

edit: the funny thing is, I want to dumpload a ton of $$$ on one of these nice shiny new hybrids even if gas costs $1/gal. We're dealing with the same crew of morons who are dumping the electric lightbulb because their culture has taught them through their wizardry (I'd have a hard time calling it "science"... "sorcery" is more like it... sorta how numerology is to math) that its wrong. But no, their culture has divined them a truth, and dammit, they're going to believe. Gotta wonder if they're going to bring out a statue of a cow onto the national mall soon. We're going to moralize ourselves into the poorhouse but somehow making a balanced budget makes you devil incarnate. I thought being put in the poorhouse for the whims of man was an evil thing. That's what I"m told about all the evil rich people who are bankrupting me. So, you somehow become less evil when you make $75K in the 'burbs and want to take me to the same poor house. I have two choice words for that... and neither of them are printable.

[brookyone]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

As a Jeep Wrangler owner, I DON'T CARE.

Why? I've lived within about 12 miles of my workplace since about '97, including a 2-3 years where I was 2 miles from my workplace. I'll be honest, it was a factor in buying my gas-guzzler in '01 (it's a '99 Wrangler; currently a hair under 80K on it).

On average, I probably go through 1/2 to 2/3 a tank a week, depending on what I do on the weekend.

As a Jeep Wrangler owner, NO I AM NOT.

This is just another sign that Twitch Boy Cannot Have Nice Things.

I've owned a couple Wranglers and liked them a lot. All had the old 4.0 straight six, now defunct. While they weren't gas sippers by any means, I wouldn't characterize them as gas hogs either. Now I'm in a Dodge pick-up with a V8 that's getting very painful to operate and I'm definitely looking to get into something a great deal more economical. Even seriously considering some compact or sub compact little four cylinder cars...which until now, was a possibility I would have never entertained. Right now I'd take the Wrangler MPG over what I get with the truck in a flash.

[The Rube]

Re: 5 dollar gas...are we ready?

I get about 14-15 mpg with the top up. Top down? You're looking at 10-12, at best.