Totally OT: Gas prices

[David]

Sigh...      The real pisser is that not only do we get to watch our gas prices rise everyday, but we hear on the news that Exxon/Mobil keep reporting record profits.  

I almost feel guilty for complaining about the price we pay, as I know our friends over seas pay alot more and have for some time.     But it still sucks.   

[CoyotePiper]

There is also the difference between gross earnings and net profit. I believe Exxon/Mobile has a profit of 10% after all the bills are paid. So on every $1.00 they take in they have a profit of 10 cents.

This is not really out of line. I believe Microsoft has a net profit of 30% which is triple what E/M earns. If anything E/M has a fair profit and is not gouging at all compared to MS. The real pig is MS.

Yes you are paying 60 to 80 cents more per gallon but the price of crude has also gone to 75 bucks a barrel.

What I can't figure out is why the price of an airplane ticket on Southwest has not budged since last spring. Do they lock in long term fuel contracts or something? I zip back and forth to Tampa and I'm still booking at last years rate. (withing a couple of bucks) I went to Denver in mid March, just before the big run up and I can book that exact passage right now at the same price.

And I've been watching the Las Vegas trip just for fun and it too has not changed in over a year. How are they controlling the jet fuel costs?

[David]

. How are they controlling the jet fuel costs?

  You know how lost luggage has increased alarmingly in the past 2 years?   

They are recovering fuel costs by selling our luggage!      

[rtprod]

$3.27 here today.

[MaineWriter]

Bringing this thread back to life...gas has gone down here (Portland, ME)...$2.85/gal today

[TJ]

I haven't owned a vehicle since '91. But, I have bought gas for other people a lot since them.

That cartoon above reminded me when I lived in NE Missouri where I was teaching in 69-70 and I made a trip back to Tulsa, Oklahoma once a month. Tulsa has two refineries and in those days.

There was a gas war going on in the Missouri Ozarks and I found it interesting that could buy gas for 5 to 10 cents a gallon cheaper than the very same brands which were from the same Tulsa refineries. I got it for 20-22 cents a gallon then.

[DecaturTxCowboy]

BTW, in the Mountain states regular gas is 85 octane not 87. I guess at 6000 ft and more above sea level a car doesn't need 87 octane anymore.

At reduced atmospheric pressure, gasoline burns with a lower velocity flame front, therefore you don't need as much ignition retardants. The higher the octane, the less explosive the fuel.

[JennyC]

What was the gas price for the memorial weekend?

I had to fill up my tank at $3.65 per gallon in a small town, Cambria, along Highway 1.

[nakymaton]

I don't think they are actively producing oil in Colorado any more. (Natural gas, yes, from coalbed methane, both down around Durango and up near Rifle. I don't think the Denver basin is actively producing any more, though. I could be wrong, though... I'm not in the industry.)

I think they're producing in western Wyoming again, though. (They found that oil late in the boom, I think.) And there's a new find in eastern Utah, too. They're refining the oil in Salt Lake City, I think. At least, that's the reason I've heard for the lower gasoline prices up there.

[slayers_creek_oth]

It's been $2.93 at the cheapest in SW Colorado. It didn't change over the weekend, despite being a tourist area at the beginning of the summer season.

I don't think they are actively producing oil in Colorado any more. (Natural gas, yes, from coalbed methane, both down around Durango and up near Rifle. I don't think the Denver basin is actively producing any more, though. I could be wrong, though... I'm not in the industry.)

I think they're producing in western Wyoming again, though. (They found that oil late in the boom, I think.) And there's a new find in eastern Utah, too. They're refining the oil in Salt Lake City, I think. At least, that's the reason I've heard for the lower gasoline prices up there.

Gas prices aren't any lower in SLC....ridiculous!