The Scrooge has hit us again at Christmas Time. Gas Companies know how to make us hurt. No Goodwill and Merry Christmas from them.
40 cent increase in gas prices
Comments ... #
Saw that last night, unbelievable !! I'd rather have my egg nog spiked instead of gas prices.
saw that coming. posted on FB for all my peeps to top off their tanks while it was 2.99...
In Mexico, there is a government monopoly on gasoline, and the stations are franchised to private owners. The cost is the same at every Pemex station, about $2.66/gallon, and without any ethanol you get about 5% better mileage. This was begun because oil companies were taking advantage of the Mexican people in the 1930s, maybe we should consider this here in the U.S.
posted by milesdriven on Dec 22, 2011 at 12:17:16 pm #
So you're advocating a government monopoly? What, so they can be as efficient as other public utilities? No thanks. As much as I hate seeing price fluctuations like this, at least I know I can always get gasoline when I need it. I can just see it now: "yeah, we've been out of gas since August. We ordered new... ya know, this really isn't my area, you'll have to talk with somebody else about this."
Johio83 posted at 11:33:49 AM on Dec 22, 2011:
So you're advocating a government monopoly? What, so they can be as efficient as other public utilities? No thanks. As much as I hate seeing price fluctuations like this, at least I know I can always get gasoline when I need it. I can just see it now: "yeah, we've been out of gas since August. We ordered new... ya know, this really isn't my area, you'll have to talk with somebody else about this."
I've driven the entirety of Mexico from Texas almost to the Guatemalan border several times, and have never had a problem getting gas anywhere. While the government provides the gasoline and diesel, all of the filling stations are privately owned franchises. I will soon be converting my camper van to compressed natural gas so I can burn American fuel at half the price I'm paying now.
posted by milesdriven on Dec 22, 2011 at 12:43:54 pm #
MD - how many places around can you fill up a natural gas car? Can you drive it across the country and find enough stations.
looks like the nearest one is nw of blissfield
http://www.cngnow.com/stations/Pages/information.aspx
Greene's Auto & Truck Service - Citizens Energy Group
111 W Raymond St
Indianapolis, IN 46225
Current Price: $0.96
milesdriven posted at 11:17:16 AM on Dec 22, 2011:
In Mexico, there is a government monopoly on gasoline, and the stations are franchised to private owners. The cost is the same at every Pemex station, about $2.66/gallon, and without any ethanol you get about 5% better mileage. This was begun because oil companies were taking advantage of the Mexican people in the 1930s, maybe we should consider this here in the U.S.
Someone tell me why, if Kroger operates a gas station near every Kroger in Toledo, gas prices are not the same at every Kroger gas station? I don't think they're magically "independent franchises" therefore the one paying the bill for gas is Kroger and therefore the price should be the same across stations vs. independent owners having less buying power and getting a fluctuating price on the next tanker of gas. Certainly doesn't cost 30 cents a gallon more to drive the tanker from the terminal to Miracle Mile than it does Byrne/Glendale or Perrysburg or Navarre Ave Krogers. Which means that it's technically price fixing, collusion, and/or anticompetitive behavior for this to be happening.
posted by anonymouscoward on Dec 22, 2011 at 04:34:58 pm #
They could base it off the immediate local competitors prices. Nothing wrong with them trying to get the best price people will pay.
posted by OmarLittle on Dec 22, 2011 at 05:03:17 pm #
Gas prices are targeted by location, gas always more expensive the closer to a freeway ramp, the better sections of a town, or nearest work centers of a city.
posted by Linecrosser on Dec 22, 2011 at 05:14:49 pm #
I tanked up at 2.91 ...gads
posted by OhioKimono on Dec 22, 2011 at 06:56:00 pm #
AC, the prices aren't the same for they refill the station tanks at different times.
The story this morning was that price went up because it's the holidays. In spring, it is forecast to go over $4 a gallon because most refineries do maintenance then.
The bottom line is that until people stop using gas, the price will continue to jump at what seems "random". No matter how high it gets, I never notice less cars on the road.
My question has always been: if there is no collusion regarding the price of a gallon of gas, why does every station (all different oil companies) on the four corners of an intersection all charge the same amount?
Surely the cost to bring a gallon of gas to market can not be exactly the same for each company.
posted by Foodie on Dec 23, 2011 at 11:14:08 am # 1 person liked this
Gas is $1.99 at the Sunoco on Airport and Bryne as of 9:45AM today
Forget gas ... my favorite toothpaste has always been priced (mysteriously) EXACTLY THE SAME at Rite-Aid, Walmart, and the grocery stores (though most groceries don't even stock it).
But seriously, when I worked in retail and had complete, 100% control over pricing merchandise, I had 3 sources of information immediately available to me with every shipment: One, the cost on the purchase agreement plus our standard markup; Two, my departmental goals for revenue and traffic; Three, the price already printed on the boxes (which we could either stick with, or discount). I could do a little extra research and find out what the nearest competitors were charging, and I could either match them or undercut them. With the gas stations being conveniently located together at intersections, that research phase would consist of looking out the window! ;-)
Oil & gas extraction is a dirty and difficult business, a really unpleasant way to make a living. I don't want to live at a remote oilfield or live in oil country or distill my own stuff in the garage (although I could). I am happy to pay the price so other people can do these things for me. My 1995 car gets between 30 and 50 mpg -- that's how I limit the damage to my wallet. Let the gas stations charge what they want to.
If there is illegal pricing activity, a statistical analysis should be able to uncover it. In business school we learned that suppliers colluded on the price of milk to supply a Florida school district, and they were caught by that type of economic analysis. So whip out your calculators, collect research from a hundred gas stations day and night for a year, and then post your findings online.
Seriously, there probably is something going on in Toledo. I've never lived in a place where the price of gas fluctuated so regularly on Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings. /end of rant
along with the question foodie posed, I have another...why is diesel so high??? In my darkest paranoid moments, I totally believe someone is stifling the economy on purpose. That paranoia also applies to the fact that the regular gas price goes up just when most people need it the most...traveling holidays and weekends. One cannot help but feel hidden nefarious forces at work.
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