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| Oil Prices Are Down. Nobody Told the Gas Pumps |
| 2018-08-20 |
| (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Oil’s popularity isn’t what it used to be. It’s not just a looming global trade war. As I’ve written, not only will tariffs and retaliatory measures stifle the activity that normally stokes consumption, they’ll squeeze economies everywhere. That’s a good way to stifle demand. But that’s not the only problem the market faces. Recovering oil prices and weaker emerging-market currencies have combined to hit consumers’ pockets. The result could be a significant slowdown in the very countries expected to be the powerhouses of global growth. And this adds up to another reason for thinking growth in demand for oil is set to cool. Although dollar-denominated crude prices are currently around 40 percent below their level just before the 2014 price crash, the same is not true of retail gasoline or diesel prices, not even in the U.S. American average premium gasoline prices peaked in June 2014 at a little over $4 a gallon before sliding below $2.50 in early 2015 and as low as $2.20 a year later. But since then they have staged a steady recovery, coming within a whisker of $3.50 in the run-up to this summer’s driving season. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #17 This week in gas... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2018-08-20 17:02 |
| #16 $3.07 at Arco in El Dorado Hills Ca, $3.13 in Minden NV same day, 16Aug 2018. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2018-08-20 13:54 |
| #15 It's pretty pricey here in Idaho primarily because of shipping costs. But that $3.35 per gallon is for non-ethanol gas from a station that sells nothing but pure gasoline for all grades. |
| Posted by: DonM 2018-08-20 13:18 |
| #14 Yerington is closer, Mullah Richard, and lower than CA due to taxes |
| Posted by: Frank G 2018-08-20 12:55 |
| #13 $2.19 a gallon at Buccees in Fort Worth. Most around 2.25-2.30 elswhere in DFW. Texas for the win. |
| Posted by: Boss Spoper5850 2018-08-20 12:53 |
| #12 Sock, in order to get 72 cent/gallon gas you'd need to get 42 gallons of gas from a .30.24 dollar barrel, with no refining costs. I think WTI is up in the $ 70/bbl range. (The truth of refining is more complicated. About 19 gallons go to gasoline, 10 or so to diesel, 9 to jet fuel, and the remainder to other purposes. And refining costs money, and costs more money for heavier oil that needs depolymerization.) |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2018-08-20 12:33 |
| #11 $2.79 at Arco in Pahrump, Frank. But that's a bit of a drive from Bridgeport. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2018-08-20 12:20 |
| #10 $2.49 for regular and $2.39 across the street at the 7-11. I don't recall it hitting three bucks in north suburban Dallas. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2018-08-20 10:43 |
| #9 Last paragraph #8, so true. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-08-20 10:20 |
| #8 It really has nothing to do with oil prices or the wholesale price of gasoline. In californicate, it is all about the taxes. The leftists here passed a 42-cent per gallon increase on the previous taxes on gasoline and top it off with a sales tax. So here in SoCal, you are paying in the neighborhood of $1.10 per gallon in taxes, not to mention the federal excise taxes. Of course, no one talks about the multitude of taxes that are paid on the crude, the refineries, the pipelines and the distributor. Every time gasoline changes hands, there is a tax. I had a high executive with Chevron who goes to my men's Bible study say that the raw cost of a gallon of gasoline is 72-cents, the rest of the pump price is taxes. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2018-08-20 10:05 |
| #7 Filling up last night in DuPage county - $2.79 |
| Posted by: 3dc 2018-08-20 09:53 |
| #6 $3.35 for midgrade (87 octane) here in Idaho |
| Posted by: DonM 2018-08-20 09:29 |
| #5 $3.34/Gal for reg unleaded in San Diego. I saw $4.80-$5.00 in the Sierras (Bridgeport was highest) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2018-08-20 09:10 |
| #4 He starts off talking about emerging markets and then goes to domestic pump prices 'cause doing the research would be too hard. It's been $2.50/G around here for quite a while. Most of the variation in US prices are caused by legally mandated regional formulations (last time I looked there were more than a dozen), that pretty much lock out price competition from outside the local area. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2018-08-20 08:11 |
| #3 We heard breathless moaning about $4/gal all spring, it never broke $2.80/gal here. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2018-08-20 08:01 |
| #2 Who's paying $3.50 / gallon? I paid $2.79 / gallon last time I filled up. |
| Posted by: Raj 2018-08-20 00:38 |
| #1 It's a game played by retailers and one in which the consumer usually loses. Wholesale prices go up, Gas Pump prices immediately goes up, regardless of the amount of gas in storage tanks purchased at the old price. Wholesale prices go down, Gas Pump prices oftentimes take a bit longer to reflect the change. Making a little on both ends. Nothing personal, it's just business. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-08-20 00:29 |