Posts tagged “gas prices”

The price for a gallon of gasoline has continued its decline in the United States, but analysts fear that unrest in the Middle East could encourage it to reverse its downward trajectory before long. The average price of a gallon of gas dropped 7 cents over the past two weeks across the country, bringing the cost to consumers to $3.47 per gallon for regular fuel, $3.65 for mid-grade fuel, and $3.78 for premium fuel, while diesel dropped 4 cents to an average of $4.04 per gallon. The latest surveys show that Memphis, Tennessee is enjoying the lowest prices at only $3.04 per gallon, with Long Island, New York, a region still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy, suffering… Continue»

Social media is picking up where more official sources for fuel are leaving off by necessity, resulting in a gray market that is seeing residents of hard hit New York and New Jersey paying up to $100 for five gallons of gasoline.

While complaints of price gouging are greatly centered on gas, they also extend to items like matches, batteries, food, generators, and even water. Most items are being offered by unscrupulous citizens on those popular online platforms, requesting everything from high prices to sexual favors in return for the goods. (Read More: Gas Prices Keep Falling, Survey Shows)

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A combination of the effects of a fall in California pump prices, the reduced demand caused by the fuel shortages seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and lower crude prices have led to the most substantial drop in gas prices seen in the United States since 2008.

Down an average of 20.75 cents since October 19, the average price at the pump across the country now stands at $3.54 per gallon.

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When Hurricane Sandy was forecast to make landfall on the East Coast, I advised people to top off their automobiles with fuel. There were a number of reasons for that, and some people in New York and New Jersey are learning those reasons the hard way.

When a hurricane hits an area, it can damage refining infrastructure, fuel terminals, and service stations. Prolonged electrical outages can make fuel deliveries next to impossible, which has been the case around New Jersey since the hurricane hit. Any of these conditions can lead to fuel shortages. CBS News reports:

Gasoline situation increasingly dire in days after Sandy

Gas is being rationed in parts of New York and New Jersey. The pumps are running on empty — and so is patience. According to the motor club AAA, 60 percent of the gas stations in New Jersey and 70 percent on New York’s Long Island are now closed.

One fuel buyer said, “This is crazy, it’s like post-apocalyptic scenarios, you know with this gas. It’s as important as food and water to people. It’s a dogfight out here.”

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With five refineries lying in the path of Hurricane Sandy when it made landfall earlier this week, there were fears that gasoline prices across the country would jump due to a stoppage in production, but reduced demand in the wake of the storm promises to help keep those prices moving steadily downwards.

With excellent warning of the storm’s approach and meteorological models that proved to be highly accurate, East Coast refineries were also able to take preemptive action by either reducing operations or temporarily closing altogether. (See more: Why Sandy’s Impact Will Differ From Katrina)

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While most hurricanes and tropical storms that make landfall in the United States have an effect on gas prices that consumers are unhappy with, the projected path of Hurricane Sandy and its causing of decreased fuel demand could actually help to continue to push gas prices lower around the country.

The entire northeastern part of the nation is currently locked down as nearly 70 million people brace for Hurricane Sandy, a complicated system that is growing ever larger as it merges with existing wintry cold fronts. This has included a temporary stoppage of transit services in New York City and a mandatory evacuation order of hundreds of thousands of coastal residents across several states. (See more: Falling Gas Prices Could Hurt Romney Campaign)

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Falling gas prices around the country have motorists breathing a sigh of relief, but a Mitt Romney campaign that has used rising fuel costs as a weapon during the lead-up to the presidential election may not be so happy to see pump prices dropping.

After relatively small drops over the first half of October, residents of some states are seeing prices as low as $3.20 per gallon, a major decrease from the $3.84 many drivers were paying only a few short weeks ago. While acknowledging that the cost of fuel is difficult to predict over the long-term, analysts remain optimistic that prices will continue to fall, potentially as low as a national average of only $3 per gallon, a rate not seen since 2010.

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Can Oil Supplies Grow Fast Enough to Keep Prices in Check?

I, along with my editor Sam Avro, recently conducted a broad-ranging interview with John Hofmeister, former President of Shell Oil and currently the head of Citizens for Affordable Energy, a non-profit group whose aim is to promote sound U.S. energy security solutions for the nation. In the first part of this interview Mr. Hofmeister spoke of A Difficult Decade Ahead For Oil Prices and Supplies. In this installment, he sets forth his vision of a sound energy policy for America.

The Hofmeister Energy Plan

Mr. Hofmeister’s plan consists of the following elements:

• Set a national objective in the United States to get back to the production level of the 1970s and 80s of 10 million barrels a day;
• Reduce our imports by 5 million barrels a day by using natural gas as an alternative to the internal combustion engine oil products:
  • Use compressed natural gas for trucking to displace 2 million barrels a day of imported oil, and,
  • Convert natural gas to methanol for flex fuel engines to reduce imports by another 3 million barrels a day;
• Continue the journey toward more higher efficiency automobiles and continue the journey to more electrified vehicles as well, both batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.

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Koch Brothers fund campaign aimed at highlighting the rise in gas prices since President Barack Obama was inaugurated

With gas selling for more than $4 per gallon in some parts of the country leading up to the presidential election, one political activist group is looking to sway voters by offering them fuel at less than half that price.

Drivers lined up by the hundreds outside of Rainbow Markets in Reno, Nevada earlier this week to take advantage of gas priced at only $1.84 per gallon — the same price that was found on fuel pumps across the country when President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. (See also: How High Have Gas Prices Risen Over the Years?)

Organized by a group known as Gas Can Man and funded by the PAC Morning in America radio show and billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, leaders of the Americans for Prosperity organization, the exclusive fuel deal was offered in order to highlight what those groups see as President Obama’s failed energy policies, policies they say have lead to untenable gas prices.

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Think gas is expensive where you live? Some drivers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania visiting a Lukoil gas station in order to fill up their tank since yesterday have been facing prices of up to $9.99 per gallon. Luckily for those drivers, the posted price is an effort by Lukoil franchisees to protest high fuel costs passed onto them by their parent company; customers will only be paying about $3.80 per gallon at the pump. (See also: How High Have Gas Prices Risen Over the Years?)

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