We had a $.43 jump here in Iowa. The lowest in my area is $2.89 a gallon yesterday, but some stations were up at $3.19. I'm using the ethanol blend for these figures. The premium blends are quite a bit higher. I have heard of some places being close to $6 a gallon, but didn't know if that was to create a stir or not. I do know that mutilple gas stations in my area are on allocation for fuel. One place only got 40% of what their normal supply was.

Just wanted to know if this was what was happening in your market too?

$3.30 for regular...3.75+ for premium(sure glad I upgraded to that high compression high performace screaming premium sucking pig!)

The gas situation here in Atlanta was out of control yesterday. I literally pumped the last six gallons out of the tanks at the BP across the street from where I live, and they were the only station within 5+ miles of me that had any at all. The attendant told me that was the last of a 6,000 gallon supply that had been delivered three hours earlier.

I bought that for $2.89 a gallon. The same station is $3.94 this morning.

The news is reporting on some charging up to $6 (here in Atlanta).

Regular unleaded = $2.99

Premium unleaded = $3.19

Diesel = $3.02

And it's REAL difficult to accept this when we have WORKING OIL WELLs sitting on the grounds of the state capitol pumping out out of the ground.. not to mention that we TWO... yes TWO major refineries in this state... and both of them were only working at approximately 75 percent capacity BEFORE the hurricane.

Did the oil companies lose some refinery capacity? Yes

Were they operating at 100% capacity before the hurricane? No

Is there indeed a shortage in this country of crude or refinded oil? No

There are many states sitting on reserves that could provide the needs of this country for many years to come. But they won't use it because the oil companies are not making enough money.... <sigh>...

Was glad I filled the boat up at the end of last weekend. Prices have spiked from 2.49 to 2.98 in the austin area. for reg. gas. Hearing its passed three in some parts of town, One station I passed this morning was at 2.69 and there were cars lined up at the pumps.

Guess Ill get a good hurra in for labor day weekend then park the boat and look at mopeds so I can park the suv. :(

and both of them were only working at approximately 75 percent capacity BEFORE

That'd be relatively unbelievable. U.S. refinery capacity was more of a problem over the last 2 years than oil supply. U.S. refinery capacity has been at a sustained 98% or higher.

Gas prices are based on the future, not the current or past situation. 40% of oil used in this country comes through New Orleans, whether it comes out of the ground somewhere in the U.S. and goes to refineries and pipelines there, or it comes in via shipping terminals there.

In Chicagoland, for instance, a pipeline that serves 1/3 of the gasoline in the area comes out of New Orleans. That's dead. That can't be replaced in anything less than years. The quickest way to fix it is to fix New Orleans.

Out in the burbs, we jumped from around $2.85 for unleaded to $3.19 or higher yesterday.

Food for thought also. There has been an increase in the sale of locking gas caps as well. People have been getting their tanks siphoned dry of fuel. It's funny that you bring up mopeds, Nekko. I have been seeing an increase in sales/financing of mopeds in my area. There have been articles in the paper about people switching to 'peds as well. Students at the high schools are even putting up signs to encourage car pooling among their students. Seems like a lot of folks are either feeling the crunch or are expecting it.

I have friends who work at both refineries... one in Ardmore, Oklahoma and the other in Ponca City, Oklahoma... both refineries have been running consistently under capacity.

They ARE running at full capacity for the number of workers/shifts they have on board, BUT the plant is not running at full capacity. I was told that in the last two years they have (combined) laid off dozens of employees.

Doesn't make sense unless you look past the "facts" as they report them and look a little deeper. With fewer workers to run the plant... then plant is operating at "full" capacity, which in turn generates a shortfall. Supply and demand = higher prices for refined products (ie. gasoline).

I have lived in this state for the last 30 years and have seen the issues firsthand. I have seen wells drilled that are pressure wells... meaning that they don't have to PUMP the oil out, it comes out because of the pressure underground... and those wells are CAPPED and not ALLOWED to produce.

/rant off

Sorry folks... seeing $3.00+ a gallon at the pump when oil is so plentiful AND the fact that they could produce considerably more than they are... irritates me quite a lot.

You are defining capacity as "the maximum amount of refined gasoline a structure could possibly produce."

That's not usually how it works. When you run a refinery or similar type of structure like that, it breaks. The break shuts the whole system down, not just that structure. Total capacity is often defined as the amount a structure can produce while maintaining good working order. If the plant runs 3 shifts but has to shut down for a day or 2 every 3 weeks to fix stuff, that disrupts the entire system. Downstream, sellers have to create more storage capacity, randomly add/get rid of personnel, and charge higher prices. Upstream, drillers and shippers have to do the same thing. The "system" works best by having a smooth flow of product from the well to the end customer's gas tank.

Also, assume what you're saying is true. These are 2 refineries that make up a miniscule percentage of total US refinery capacity.

(Edit: Forgot to mention that the capacity of that plant is not determined by the number of employees or shifts running there.)

Laying off dozens doesn't mean much, realistically. Automation can account for that.

As for capping wells, I can think of a lot of reasons. Capitalism, for one.

There is one gas station in a 20 mile radius of York Pennsylvania that is selling gas at $2.79 a gallon and it's utter maheim there. People are waiting in huge lines b/c 20 miles out in either direction the prices are $2.99 - $3.09 for the cheap shit.

I'll never understand people that would drive 20 miles out of their way and waste hours of their time, just to save 20 cents a gallon. Unless they're filling up an 18 wheeler with it.

the normal gas price in sweden is ~1.45-1.50$ / litre, since i have no idea how much an american gallon is im gonna let you convert it

1 US gallon = 3.7854118 liters

Cheapest gas in Phoenix (per http://www.phoenixgasprices.com/ ) is about 2.70 - a little cheaper at Costco and Sams Club (hail Wal*mart). Most expensive at 3.19 and 3.09 at scattered independants and Chevrons.

$2.99 for "regular" unleaded here.

I THINK 1 gallon is 4 litres Wiggo.
And the price in Canada is currently at about 1.10$can per litre

so aprox. 5.50$/gallon? your shit is cheap, stop whining =P

Ok, I didn't know that <cityname>gasprices.com was a chain of websites. Heh. I already occasionally checked chicagogasprices.com

and how many people do you have Sweden? and how many of them drive?

apples.....oranges.....

~9 million population, ~4 million cars, what is your point?

gas price rising to 1.60$ / litre (just over 6$/gallon) due to the tornado now btw.

As an amusing aside, the "How many white cars are there in Sweeden...how would you find out...how would you count them?" is a popular thinking interview question for technical jobs. Trick intervew questions are a bit passe' now, of course, but I remember having it asked of people here when we transitioned to the company we outsourced our IT to.

~9 million population, ~4 million cars, what is your point?

gas price rising to 1.60$ / litre (just over 6$/gallon) due to the tornado now btw.

A tornado in sweden? Never heard of that before...LOL Who would have thunk it.

As an amusing aside, the "How many white cars are there in Sweeden...how would you find out...how would you count them?"

That seems a bit unfair, really, and the number would vary from day to day.

Also, what is the value of white- would white pearl count?:D

not a tornado in sweden, its because of the refineries being ruined by Katrina. global price and all that.

BIIIIG differance between a hurricane and a tornado. Biggest tornado is about 1.5 miles wide. Katrina's eye was 40 miles wide.

That seems a bit unfair, really, and the number would vary from day to day.

Also, what is the value of white- would white pearl count?:D
Esbat, that's the value in that question. How do you make counts of a moving target? Can you recognize how you're supposed to deal with it? Is the number as important as the process?

It's a similar dilema with inventory of PCs (and any other changing thing) in a large organization. We turn over 7,000 PCs a YEAR. That's 30 every business day - 3 or 4 every working hour.

Oh, and gas was still $2.99 when I went to lunch :)

I've some serious reservations as to the sudden rise in gas costs.

I realize that we haven't built a new refinery in some 30 odd years.

I also know that only 10% of our national refining capability flows through the gulf states ( 30% of local ).

So why the sudden rise? Methinks you'll find some real dicks at the head of these oil companies gouging. I hope they fryyyyyyyyy.

Fandros

I've heard that 30% of our oil nationally comes from the gulf, the pipelines fed out of NO, and the refineries there. I've heard way more than the 10% you state.

10% stat came from the soon to be senior Senator outta MN. He was on Michael Medved today and was raising that question.

Fandros

From what Ive heard read its 10% of the nations refining capacity to gasoline. The 30% is the drilling percentage.

10 refineries are out of commission according to CNN. 1.5m barrels of gasoline/day not getting processed. Months before it's fixed.

It's Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt. But scroll down to "Oil Industry:"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina

-------------------------------------
Katrina has interrupted oil production, importation, and refining in the Gulf area. A tenth of all the crude oil consumed in America and almost half of the gasoline produced in the country comes from refineries in the states along the gulf's shores. An additional 24 percent of the natural gas supply is extracted or imported in the region. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is stored along the Gulf. The hurricane accelerated the Energy Crisis of 2005.

At least twenty offshore oil platforms have gone missing, sunk, or gone adrift, according to the Coast Guard [22]. One oil rig, in dock for repairs before the storm, broke loose and hit the Cochrane/Africatown USA road bridge over the Mobile River in Mobile, Alabama. Two others went adrift in the Gulf of Mexico, but were resecured [23]. One platform, originally located 12 miles off the Louisiana coast, has washed up onshore at Dauphin Island, Alabama. The Royal Dutch Shell MARS platform, producing around 147,000 barrels a day, has been severely damaged [24].

On August 29 at 7 a.m. CDT, Ted Falgout, port director, Port Fourchon, Louisiana—a key oil and gas hub 60 miles south of New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico—reported on FOX that the port had taken a direct hit from the hurricane. This port services approximately 16 percent of the nation’s supply of crude oil and natural gas
--------------------------------------------------
A single port that took a direct hit supplies 16% of the U.S. supply of oil and natural gas.

The number I've heard, including LA and MS coastal storage and refineries, is around 45% of the non-imported petroleum supply. And oh yeah. Gas? What's gas?

2.59 regular

2.84 diesel

still going up by the day.

well the station I got gas at yesterday rose another $.40 it's now ranging $3.19 - $3.39 for cheap gas. The Governor of PA has mentioned dropping the tax on gasoline temporarily.

Where we normally fill up with gas - it was $2.89/gallon yesterday

Still holding at $2.99 at downtown Phoenix Circle-K's.

http://www.phoenixgasprices.com/index.aspx?s=Y&fuel=A&area=Phoenix%20-%20Central&station=Circle%20K&tme_limit=24

The governor's suspending the gas tax here in Georgia, for the rest of this month. Between that and removing the clean air restrictions, we're back in the normal 2.90 - 3.30 range now (sure beats $6).

$3.79-$4.10 here in WNY at the moment from most the stations I've seen, filled up before the hike...I'm good for another month or so!.