Got Gas? - it’s still cheaper than milk!
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Yes, gas is cheaper and still delivers improved performance and mileage compared to milk ... in your vehicle! The current national average $2.87/gallon for regular unleaded gasoline is causing a lot of people to have gas, and cramps in the stomach region, or pains in their derriere. Though some folks think the prices at the pump smell more like dairy air!
This weeks national average of $2.87/gal is up 31 cents from a month ago, and 67 cents more than the 2007 year to date low of $2.20. There has been speculation that prices may top $4.00 this summer. Remember, a pump average of $2.87 means there are some places with lower prices, and of course others with higher prices.
I would really like to know where I can get some of this $2.87/gal petrol, it would be a steal in my neck of the woods! I filled-up this weekend for $3.45 (which is about half of what I pay for my preferred brand of organic milk, or about the same as brand name regular milk) I saw area prices range up to $3.59 per gallon down the street.
Tahoe is typically at the top of the price list, and this is one time it is not good to be above average! Unfortunately my area is one of those that offsets the areas that are currently less than $2.87, but it is no fun being 60-70 cents (25%) above average.A few times over the past year, the Tahoe area average was the highest pump prices in the contiguous 48 states. We already know what $4.00 per gallon gas is like ... ok, it topped out at only $3.97 but it is easy to imagine another three cents! But that forecasted $4.00/gal this summer is for the national average, and as you might guess, Tahoe will again be way above average!
Pump-prices effect your wallet in more ways than just filling your vehicle’s tank. Those higher prices are also paid by the transporters of the goods we all consume. Higher transportation costs are passed along, thereby increasing many other prices in our daily lives, even the price of milk!
So how much is gas in your neighborhood? What changes in your lifestyle does the rising costs of gasoline force you to make. Have you made changes in general to lessen your own dependancy on gas? Do you use alternate forms of transportation - public transit; walk or bicycle to school, work, play; or maybe just stay home? Will the possiblity of higher gas prices this summer cause you to change your family's summer vacation plans?
Find lowest pump prices in your area, click for gas station locator.
Below are some statistics for you to mull over. There is a breakdown of what costs are involved in gas prices. A historic look at U.S. pump prices adjusted for overall inflation. And finally, you think gas is expensive at your local pump, look at prices in Europe for the really scary version of petrol prices, and drool with envy over some of the producer nation’s cheap gas.
U.S. Department of Energy explains where your fuel dollar goes:
Taxes: .15
Distribution
& Marketing: .09
Refining: .24
Crude Oil: .52
Source:U.S. DOE
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Historical Gas Prices In America YearPrice Per Gallon 1950$1.91 1955$1.85 1960$1.79 1965$1.68 1970$1.59 1975$1.80 1980$2.59 1985$1.90 1990$1.51 1995$1.28 2001$1.66 2002$1.31 2003$1.52 2004$1.79 2005$2.28 2006 ( as of June)$3.03 Source:U.S. DOE | Â Global Gas Prices*(1 gallon=3.8 L)
Oslo, Norway: $6.99 Least expensive per gallon: Caracas, Venezuela: $0.12 *Prices as of June 2006 |
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Comments: 81
I paid $2.87 for a gallon of gas, also at Costco, yesterday.
So here milk still costs less but my car won't run on milk and neither will I!
We buy milk on base but it is still a bit higher than buying our gas here on base...2.89 for mid grade fuel and 2.93 for a gallon of milk
(-;
Thankfully, I am lactose intolerant. I go for the gas every time.
This is down from 1.70 per litre (6.46 / gallon) and 1.8 per litre (6.84 / gallon) for 98 unleaded.
Stop complaining!
I was surprised two years ago when I was in Greece and was paying 0.97 euro per liter to gas up my scooter, which was probably about $4.25 gallon then. I say surprised since I know Europe has higher petrol prices than the US, but I was expecting it to be higher, much higher, than it was. I had bought gas in Greece previously in 2001(before 9/11) for about 390-something Drachma per liter before the change to the euro, which was about a US dollar per liter or a little less than $4.00/gal.
On the other hand we spend very little on milk because we do not buy much of it. We put skim milk on our cereal. We do not drink milk in a glass- why should we, we are not baby cattle. Daughter is lactose intolerant, and we are fifty year olds who need to be aware of heart health.
I love skim milk and will drink it daily at any reasonable price under $5.00 gallon.
You mean Connecticut Bush don't you? Don't blame Texas! We're just as close to oil as he could get without invading another country.
If I could earn my wages in US dollars and pay for the gas in Kiwi dollars then the exchange conversions would make sense. We only have ourselves to blame for it anyway, as most of the price is tax.
Ah, I still remember the days when 91 was 95c a litre.
At some point the greed and gouging of the oil companies has to be figured in. While I agree that driving a big gas guzzling car leaves people with absolutely no room to complain, I also realize there is just so far you can cut back before it impacts the quality of your life.
You're also right that if Americans had demanded smaller fuel-efficient cars that things would be better now. That's not an excuse for the oil companies and their price gouging. There is no reason for gas at the pump to go up every time oil prices rise and then not immediately go down when they drop. If it's economics that drives the price up then the same forces are in play to drive them down. What we're dealing with is plain old greed.
Completely off-topic. Have you ever written for luminous-landscape.com?
Yeah I remember Carter. Gas went from 18 cents a gallon to 75 cents. Thats over 400% increase. Now under Bush and his cronies we have gone from $1.75 a gallon to $3.20 a gallon which is about 180% increase. gee math is fun...nuff said.
A couple of years ago I was introduced to a man who had developed the means to power vehicles with hydrogen. He was not at liberty to talk about it ... he was silenced by the oil companies.
http://www.water-visions.com/faq.html Water Visions is currently marketing a hydrogen fuel enrichment product to increase mileage and reduce emissions, at this time increasing efficiency by 15% with no engine modifications, and no on board hydrogen!
As a t-shirt my daughter has reads ... "Quit Your Bitchin' ... Start a Revolution!" We as the public need to insist on such alternatives! ... D.
Cost of gas in Nebraska - $2.79. Milk - $3.29. But a gallon of gas doesn't last me a week and a gallon of milk does + it tastes better. :)
The sleeping Chinese Industrial Dragon has been awakened and it seems that not many in this country pay much attention to the new player in the game of devouring the world's resources. The emergence of China greatly effects other industrialised nations and the whole world community by their growing appetite for resources, much as post WWII western industrial nations and Japan did for the past 50 years. The 20th century was the rise of America, and the 21st century appears to be China's. BTW, this is part of the theme of an international thriller I am currently reading and I find the art imitating reality concept interesting (and entertaining) especially since the novel was written a decade ago.
Jamie, I won't ask how you came about your taste test ... but I definitely agree that milk tastes better!
... not sure it will calm my panic at the pumps ...
but none-the-less, a creative take on the issue.
I'm very interested in China as well. After this contaminated wheat gluten incident, I'm more than a little alarmed by the amount of food we import from China and the quality.
Those that want to use the strategic oil reserves to manipulate the market need to understand that is a short-term solution and results in the reserve needing to be restocked at some future date. hmmm...someone was complaining about that restocking...why did the reserve need to be restocked? Because part of it had been previously used to maintain an articifially lower price of gas. Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul never works out in the long-run.
And for all the knee-jerkers in the audience: Every administration, beginning with Nixon, has left unfulfilled pledges promising that America's addiction to oil would end. So regardless of what colour your state, or which side of the aisle you sit on, none of you or your elected ilk have done anything to wean the average American off the oil. Can you explain why your particular favourite administration failed to fulfill their pledge? Can you do it without blaming some other administration for your own's failure??
Profits to the different entities are included in the chart segments that represent that part of the gas-dollar. Here is a link to The California Energy Commission and their breakdown of the gasoline price structure.
Are you asking how much money a certain company makes? You can look up that company's annual report and read the financials. Oil companies run 8% to 10% profit which is a reasonable rate of return for their industry. The oil industry profit margin is slightly more than manufacturing and much less than pharmacutecals, beverages, or electrical equipment industries which run 14 to 22% profit margins.
Oh, and for those touting the regulation of utilities ... their industry average profit margin is 14% ... still think regulation is the be all cure all ???
THe oil reserve was used by every President since it's inception post embargo as economic and political leverage againt unruly OPEC drives and to check the potential exploitation by domestic producers. Bush reversed that and the result is what you see. Spot futures market trades are often off shore and untraceable. Those trades affect the level of oil price. The volume of product sold, it strategic/security value, universal economic effect is unlike any other commoditiy and until Bush was recognized that for American and international economic peace and security should be carefully monitiored and controlled to the benefit of all.
Hormone free ok,
but ... the largest microdairy ... hmmm ... oxymoronic milk ...