Any relief from rising gas prices?

[William769]

LEE COUNTY, FL -
It's at the very beginning of the year that we are supposed to see the cheapest gas prices. Yet last month, we saw prices at the pump hit an all-time high. We found out there is little relief in sight.

At the Hess Gas Station on Fowler Street in Fort Myers, the cheapest they have is $3.62 a gallon.

And analysts say we're on an upward climb from here. In fact, they say you can expect to pay about $4.10 by the end of May.

For New York native Richard Marks, watching the dollars roll by on the pump didn't stop his post-Super Bowl joy. But, he said, it will curtail his trips back home.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/16688694/2012/02/06/any-relief-from-rising-gas-prices

[Lint Head]

1. The oil industry in the US does not want low prices during an election season.

The Keystone XL pipeline is being pushed after all.

Oil prices per barrel are going down. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2012/02/06/oil_near_97_amid_signs_us_economy_improving/

[mrJJ]

2. Nope US Refineries idling their plants

US Refineries want the prices UP...

Gasoline prices on the rise as refineries close

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/01/31/gasoline-prices-on-the-rise-as-refineries-close/

[Motown_Johnny]

7. and exporting refined fuels (gasoline and diesel)

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/29/144155269/gas-pains-u-s-diesel-gas-exports-surpass-imports

^snip^

For the first time in more than six decades, the United States is exporting more gasoline and diesel than it imports.

To be clear, we're talking about finished petroleum products, not crude oil. The U.S. still imports about half the crude it consumes.

[LiberalFighter]

3. I would strongly encourage everyone to economize

Reduce your driving habits as much as possible. If you work do your shopping after work and before going home instead of going home and then doing your shopping. Try doing more with fewer trips. Use the most economical means of transportation when possible.

If you do what you can while you drive by gas stations mentally give them the finger. And talk it up the savings you have managed to accomplished. Best way might be saying that I use to fill up once a week. Now it is every 9 or 10 days. Do this because it's true but also to get others to follow suit in the back of their mind.

[msongs]

4. sure, drive less nt

[William769]

6. It's hard to drive less when you don't have mass transit.

[safeinOhio]

5. I work midnights at a gas station.

Last friday we dropped our price 20 cents below all the other stations to $3.27. I did a record sales that night between 10 PM and 6 AM.. When they have to move product, price works. That also doubles the sales of the other crap, like smokes, candy and hot dogs, the stuff the company makes big profits on. I've noticed that when ever the talk on the news is that gas is going up over four bucks, our prices start to drop like a rock. Last time it was on the news a week and a half ago, a few stations went down to $2.99 in a few days. It's like they want you to hurry up and fill up before the price goes up, when they really know it's about to drop.
You may not save much by going a mile or two to save a penny, but it forces the stations to counter the price if enough people shop around. They don't make their real money on the gas, it's the other crap that pays big.
I did over 5 grand in sales, working alone for the $61. they pay me for 8 hrs.

[GReedDiamond]

9. Thank You, safeinOhio, for a very illuminating post...

...and, stay safe!

[bhikkhu]

8. No, the price is dependent on global crude prices

...and there is no expectation that these will decrease.

The price of crude itself is a direct result of the cost of extraction - the cheap oil is about done and what is left is deep water, tar sands, shale oil, etc - abundant but expensive to extract. And finally the reason we have to resort to the expensive stuff is the result of massive global demand, which is far beyond what can be satisfied by the cheap oil that is left.

So about the one thing that you can do is use less. If we had all done that decades ago when they first started advising it everything would be different, of course...

[Zalatix]

10. Our environment is getting a relief from low gasoline prices.

Maybe at some point we'll find the guts to ditch gasoline and move toward alternative fuels like electric cars or waste oil biodiesel (which isn't perfectly clean, but burns cleaner than gasoline)... or hydrogen?

There has never been any such thing as cheap gasoline. "Cheap at the pump", yeah, but not cheap overall.