~~~~The Official GAS thread~~~~ .....(a.k.a - the pain at the pump)

This thread is dedicated to stories about the current gas situation. Please post info on your local gas stations, gas shortages, gas prices, and gas outrages here. Feel free to post OPEC and Peak Oil stories here as well.

I think it will be interesting to see how locals deal with the pain at the pump in different ways.

OTISVILLE — Under cover of darkness, someone torched three American flags and vandalized a gas station in this small village, police say.

No one saw a thing. And employees suspect the motive was hate.

Police say sometime between midnight and 4 a.m. Wednesday someone set the flags ablaze and damaged two gas pumps at the Otisville Mart on Route 211. Authorities continue to investigate the incident. So far, there've been no arrests.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/NEWS/806260321

in Germany.

Just to give you an idea that you are still off good with your gas prices compared to Europe.

There was a report that oil is now $200 a barrel:wow:, and that gas here in the US could be seven bucks a gallon by 2010. :yoiks:

I added it to the OP:toast:

Coping by driving as little as possible, combining trips, coasting to stop lights and down hill. Replaced my 98 Ranger with a 08 Yaris and it is getting 40mpg combined. I would have bought a Prius but couldn't justify the extra $10K in the cost v benefit analysis.

peace and low stress

we can starve all those bastards and their families that won't be able to get to a meaningful job so that will help with the population and then the gas prices will go down...

sP

HOPEWELL JUNCTION — The price of gas skyrocketed after Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, took office.

Coincidence?

Republican challenger Kieran Lalor doesn't think so. The Peekskill newcomer, who's challenging Hall in the hotly contested 19th District, has been slamming his opponent's energy policy positions. Lalor's latest dig is a sign outside his campaign headquarters in Dutchess County's Hopewell Junction: "Pain at the pump?" it asks motorists cruising by on Route 52. "Blame John Hall."
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/NEWS/806260318
NOTE - BOLD EMPHASIS PLACED by mdmc

ICE, ICE, Baby

One piece of legislation is why the price of everything is going through the roof

“There’s a few hedge fund managers out there who are masters at knowing how to exploit the peak theories and hot buttons of supply and demand and by making bold predictions of shocking price advancements to come, they only add more fuel to the bullish fire in a sort of self fulfilling prophecy." — National Gas Week, September 5, 2005 as reprinted in the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations’ report, "The Role of Market Speculation in Rising Oil and Gas Prices," June 27, 2006

Part 1 –

http://www.star-telegram.com/ed_wallace/story/651928.html

"What’s been happening since 2004 is very high prices without record-low stocks. The relationship between U.S. inventory levels and prices has been shredded and become irrelevant."

— Jan Stuart, Global Oil Economist, UBS Securities

"What you have on the financial side is a bunch of money being thrown at the energy futures market. It’s just pulling in more and more cash. That’s the side of the market where we have runaway demand, not on the physical side."

— Tim Evans, Senior Oil Analyst, IFR Energy Services

Part 2 –

http://www.star-telegram.com/ed_wallace/story/659081.html

And this from Monday, June 23, 2008:

Limiting speculation would push prices to fundamental level, lawmakers told.

By Rex Nutting & Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The price of retail gasoline could fall by half, to around $2 a gallon, within 30 days of passage of a law to limit speculation in energy-futures markets, four energy analysts told Congress on Monday.

Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about half the current $135.

Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co., Edward Krapels of Energy Security Analysis and Roger Diwan of PFC Energy Consultants agreed with Masters' assessment at a hearing on proposed legislation to limit speculation in futures markets.

http://tinyurl.com/5hbkf8

How come they wanted people to invest in stocks and drive poor people out
of neighborhoods in order to continue justifying speculative hysteria
among yuppies in THOSE markets? Oh, I forgot, because "MOST PEOPLE would
Benefit from Gentrification, as long as you're not stupid enough to avoid
the benefits of homeownership, such as constantly rising home prices over
the long term." But with oil, we aren't supposed to apply the same Ponzi
scheme logic that drives the rest of the market, even though oil is
ACTUALLY a limited resource? they want to ensure gas remains 1/3 the cost
it is anywhere else but China and OPEC states where gas is subsidized...
and they're willing to prohibit people from betting that peak oil will
CONTINUE to drive down conventional gas production. So now in addition
to being civil libertarians, Congress is environmentally on-the-ball too.
:sarcasm:

The Senate also passed a bill to remove the state tax on gasoline while Assembly Democrats opposed it.
Kirwan said while he acknowledges removing the tax would not be an energy solution, it would be a “pocketbook solution.”
http://midhudsonnews.com/News/June08/26/NYLegis_Kirwan-26Jun08.html

Defund all those 8-lane highway clearcutting of land
and carpool-to-toll lane conversion projects.

in southwest Missouri.

We are coping in the usual ways, especially driving the least amount possible and altered driving style.

HOWEVER --- We have two 15 year olds in our house who have learner's permits and must log in 40 hours of practice driving before they get their licenses in January. Its hard to make all of that time count as necessary drive time and so we have had lots of "leisurely" drives in the country. Thank goodness for a 1991 Camry that gets 30-34 mpg.

Getting through to my son that he doesn't have to race up to stop lights or up behind someone with their brakes on is proving to be a hard task. When I tell him to change his style, of course I am crazy as only a 15 year old can imagine his mother to be.

that requires the 15 year olds get their licenses in January?

Personally, I think 15 is way too young to be driving, even on a permit. I made my son wait until he was 16 for the permit, and I could tell that the additional year gave him a real respect for the power of a car. And my rule was he had to drive a full year on a permit before I'd let him get a license. I think it made a difference.

They will have had their permits for 8 months by then. Sorry I didn't make that clear. In Missouri there is a graduated type of licensing available for teens. By the time they are 18 they will be full fledged "adult" drivers, with a period of time before 18 when they can only have one other teen riding with them --- I'm not sure how well that is enforced, but I love that law.

I tend to agree with you that the more age they get on them the better. And I hate to use the old "peer pressure" thing with why we relented on getting their permits in May. Drivers Ed was offered this summer in summer school and we wanted to take advantage of that. The class has turned out to be more than a waste of time in my opinion, but who knew. So the bulk of the teaching is going to be left up to me. And no doubt I will get more "out of my mind" in their way of thinking as we go on.

which allows a full (supposedly restricted) license at age 15. The reality is, the restrictions are almost impossible to enforce. I'm extremely glad I stuck to my guns and refused to let my kids drive early.

One down side of early licensing is that in states that license drivers at 15 or 16, the 19 and 20 year olds have higher accident rates than do states that delay licensing. I've gotten into many an argument with a parent who virtuously proclaims that *her* kid is mature enough to drive at the youngest possible age, and then they assume that multiple accidents and wrecked cars are a normal part of learning to drive.

They still have to have your permission to get the license, right? Just do a little more research and tell them you've reconsidered. I had a niece recently tell me that she thought I did the right thing with my boys, and that she probably wouldn't have had as many accidents if she'd waited to start driving. And of course her mother (my sister) was one of those utterly convinced that her kids could drive as soon as possible. Each of the three has totaled at least two cars, maybe more.

A little truth-telling here: My older son was not interested in learning to drive until he was about twenty. He's mildly autistic (Asperger's Syndrome) which may have been a factor. The younger son greatly resented that I delayed his driving at the time. Both boys have been in accidents which resulted in the car being totaled (once for the older, twice for the younger). But NONE of the accidents were their fault. Twice someone made a left-hand turn directly in front of them, the other time the car was rear-ended in a construction zone. So their insurance rates have not been affected.

Oh, that's another thing. Insurance. So long as the kid is driving on a permit, it doesn't alter your insurance (other than an accident, I'm sure). Once they drive, especially if they are males, you'll pay a lot for insurance. The temptation will be, especially if you have a late-model something, to get them their own car, something old and inexpensive to insure. My advice is DON'T. There's something to be learned from the negotiation of sharing a car, even on the adult's side. And don't be tempted by the notion that you won't have to drive them everywhere. Too many parents can hardly wait until that day, and among other things they lose valuable time in the car chatting with the kid, or listening to conversations in the back seat.

When we checked on the insurance at permit time (we thought we would have to have them insured at that time) we nearly died. Fortunately they are good students so we will get that discount. And Dad has told them that if they don't get the good student discount once the insurance begins they won't drive.

Oh and I know what you mean about succumbing to the "I won't have to drive them everywhere" syndrome. We won't fall into that. We have had many really good chats during our drive times already --- glad for that, too. It does prove to be quality time.

There have been several needless teen fatalities in our area in the last couple of years which have deeply affected my kids, especially my daughter who was friends with one of the dead girls. Hopefully that will have a positive effect in the long run.

I was 17 before I got my license because I was fearful and my parents didn't push it, and even then it was ages before my parents let me drive anywhere without an adult, including my aged grandmother. My kids will feel the same kind of strictness.

Glad to hear your boys have benefitted from your restrictions too. We need safe drivers.

He has his own car, and there have been many times where he would rather me drive him to school, because he doesn't feel like parking and walking 2 blocks from the car to the door, especially when it's below zero in the winter, a wise child :)

He drives to and from work from school and that's about it. He has to pay for his own gas, and the passion for "cruising" never did happen, he's not wanting to blow his hard earned money on gas if he doesn't have to.

it was at one of those highway gas stations, which are usually always higher. I've seen it at 4.26 closer to home.

I'm in CA east bay area.

LONDON - Oil prices climbed to a record above $142 a barrel Friday as the U.S. dollar's protracted slump and falling stock markets prompted investors to take refuge in oil.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080627/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080630/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices;_ylt=Avbr.KmssdyWt8e.kTTrsV2b.HQA

Oil prices pass $143 a barrel; US gas hits high
Oil prices surged past $143 a barrel for the first time ever Monday, and the price for a gallon of gas hit an all-time high in the United States.

It was 2.5 miles and it took me 20 minutes.

Would someone please comfort me and ease my unbearable agony?

:hug:

:wtf:

Then you won't notice the pain you previously felt.

You said you were in unbearable agony right? ;-)

http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-gas-prices
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four dollar a gallon gas has stolen a beach vacation in South Carolina from Julie Jacobs' family and exotic bath washes from Angela Crawford. Phil English had to sell his beloved but fuel-guzzling red pickup.

I am pi$$ed off that the prices are higher on the coasts-mainly the west coast!

If everyone in the country was paying what we are now, no doubt there would be an uproar! :grr:

Oil climbs near $143 on Middle East tensions

Oil prices neared $143 a barrel Tuesday amid concerns about a potential conflict between Iran and Israel and a weakening dollar.
A report by the International Energy Agency saying crude supplies would remain tight despite record prices and reduced demand from industrialized countries also helped support prices.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080701/oil_prices.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080702/ap_on_re_eu/oil_congress

MADRID, Spain - As crude soared to a new record, the head of the International Energy Agency declared that the world was in the grip of an "oil shock," and the president of OPEC acknowledged he could not say whether prices would flatten out or continue to soar.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________I bet they continue to soar

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080703/oil_prices.html

Oil prices neared $146 a barrel Thursday for the first time ever on reports of declining U.S. stockpiles and the threat of conflict with Iran.
Comments by Saudi Arabia's oil minister suggesting his country had no immediate plans to boost production also lifted prices.

Apparently its a credit card thing. Ugh.

Although I do have a 20 gallon tank and I ran it pretty low.