Where oil prices hit the hardest.

[Bosso 63]

Scroll down to the map and compare "red" states to "blue" states.






http://www.theoildrum.com/

[stillcool]

1. Aren't prices lower...

the closer you are to refineries?

[Make7]

2. Please use the Permalink whenever possible.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/4125

Thanks,
Make7

[Mr. Blonde]

3. Soo the farther you are from a

population center the more you pay. Chances are you are faced with longer commutes and zero public transportation. I see in Oklahoma on OKC and Tulsa are not in the 8-16 range. No surprise there.

Top that off with more farmers in rural areas who need big trucks with crappy gas mileage and you have a recipe for disaster when gas is 4+ and diesel even worse.

[yellowdogintexas]

4. no this is about the percentage of total income necessary to keep

gas in the car. it is going to be lower in the populated areas because the income overall is higher .

If you look at Tennessee for example, the lavendar to purple spots are Nashville and Memphis. Rest of the state is essentially farm land where income is lower for most people

[profgoose]

7. it's all of those things and more...poverty, driving distance, and quality of vehicles...

Thanks for linking to The Oil Drum! :) Much appreciated.

“This crisis really impacts those who are at the economic margins of society, mostly in the rural areas and particularly parts of the Southeast,” said Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service, a fuel analysis firm. “These are people who have to decide between food and transportation.”

A survey by Mr. Rozell’s firm late last month found that the gasoline crisis is taking the highest toll, as a percentage of income, on people in rural areas of the South, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and North and South Dakota.

With the exception of rural Maine, the Northeast appears least affected by gasoline prices because people there make more money and drive shorter distances, or they take a bus or train to work.

But across Mississippi and the rural South, little public transit is available and people have no choice but to drive to work. Since jobs are scarce, commutes are frequently 20 miles or more. Many of the vehicles on the roads here are old rundown trucks, some getting 10 or fewer miles to the gallon.

[Mr. Blonde]

9. I am aware of what the graph is

my point is this, when you have a 40 mile or more commute to your job, no access to public transportation, or your business requires a large vehicle with lousy gas economy you are going to pay more. When you pay more it takes up more of your income. I don't care how much you make. Does a lower income also play a role, but it doesn't dimish the factors I mentioned.

[profgoose]

10. no, you're right...

it doesn't. In fact, to me it's a causal mess if you start thinking about it...which causes which, how do you untangle it, etc., etc.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Here's the map.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. These prices are the forerunner of a depression.

All of those people spending that percentage of their income on gas just to get to and from work means that they won't be buying the very things that they're manufacturing.

Which means that more and more people will be out of work as the ripple effect takes hold.

And, that prices will inevitably go up, which means that more and more people won't be able to afford the things that they would normally buy.

Which means more and more businesses will fold..

Which will mean that more and more people will be out of work..

Repeat until we have soup lines.

Note: My wife volunteers at the local food bank. The number of applicants has tripled in the last year.

[profgoose]

8. certainty=good times, uncertainty=volaility and bad...

I fear you are correct on the way up, but it also is going to catch folks on the way down too.

Demand is being destroyed as we speak. People are flocking to alternative transpo, driving less. At some point, the demand will be destroyed so much that oil will plummet, just as it did in the 70s and 80s after the shocks--then all investment in alt-energy will go away.

*sigh*