Community Chat

[bargainsgirl]

$4.49 upstate NY.  We've been here before...Does not bother me because it won't last forever.  I am just thankful we have the option to buy and drive.  I remind myself we are not in the Ukraine and therefore I don't complain about the gas or other rising prices.

[moonandthestars]

The (terrible) invasion of Ukraine happened late february this year.  Gas prices had a steep and steady rise in 2021 - the year before the invasion.  There are policy decisions that have impacted the markets and have caused/contributed to rising prices.  The policies may not be the only thing impacting prices, but are most certainly a big part of it.  To blame the high prices on oil company's 'price gauging I think is unfair and blame misdirected.  

[Duckncover]

We always get our gas at Costco. I like that they post their current gas price on their website each day. An employee told me they monitor what the price at other gas stations near them is and then charge less. DH paid 3.88 yesterday and 3.78 a week ago when he full up my tank. The three Costcos in our area are usually all different prices...based on their location. 

[Snoopp]

The prices continue to rise.  Today it is at $4.80 for regular.  Reports are that it will hit over $6 over the summer.

Goods and services are passing costs on the the consumer.  My lawn service has raised their price and I expect will do another increase this summer, if the predictions hold.

[Greeneyedlady21]

AAA is reporting that they expect travel this Summer to be at the highest level it has been in the past five years. If that happens clearly many people can afford it and the gas price effect is not curtailing their plans

Yes poor oil companies, hugs to them. They're really suffering.

[gidgetgh]

By me yesterday, regular was $4.09, metro Atlanta.  And we are getting ready to lose our gas tax break.

[gardenman]

As bad as gas prices are, heating oil is a bigger factor. I can drive less but I still need to heat my home. Last year I was paying $300-$400 for a tank of oil. This year it was over $800 a tank. When you're on a fixed income, that's a huge hit. I'll be getting the new budget plan in June/July and I expect next year's monthly cost will be well over $200 a month on the budget plan. 

As to the oil companies and their profits. Shell is the one I just looked at. They produce 3.7 million barrels per day. One barrel is 42 gallons. That makes their daily production 155,400,000 gallons per day. That puts their production at 56,721,000,000 gallons per year. Their first-quarter profits were $9.1 billion. Assuming that same profit margin for a full year their profits will be $36.4 billion dollars. So, by selling 56-plus billion gallons of oil products, they make $36.4 billion or a whopping $0.64 per gallon in profit. So, why have prices doubled if it's the greedy oil companies? 

Shell was making a profit before this all started. ($21.4 billion in 2018, $16.5 billon in 2019, $4.85 billion in 2020, and $17.8 billion in 2021.) Are they making more of a profit now? Yeah, but not enough to double the price of oil. The numbers don't lie. Blaming the oil companies is easy, but they're not the ones at fault here. They're making $0.64 per gallon now as opposed to somewhere around $0.30 last year. Oil prices haven't increased by thirty-some cents. They've gone up a lot more than thirty-some cents. If Shell were to make no money at all, oil prices would only drop $0.64 per gallon. 

[gidgetgh]

---

@Effie54 wrote:

And they're not going down any time soon. Did we pay these prices two years ago?? No! Hmmmmm......

---

@Effie54 - and 2 years ago, we were in the middle of a lockdown and supply was plenty and demand was low.  Supply and demand...drives the prices.

And now add in a war.  And also now add in the regular summer increase.  

[proudlyfromNJ]

---

@gidgetgh wrote:

---

@Effie54 wrote:

And they're not going down any time soon. Did we pay these prices two years ago?? No! Hmmmmm......

---

@Effie54 - and 2 years ago, we were in the middle of a lockdown and supply was plenty and demand was low.  Supply and demand...drives the prices.

And now add in a war.  And also now add in the regular summer increase.  

---

@gidgetgh  But you know that's not what she is talking about. I love these kind of posts to get around getting poofed.

[Effie54]

---

@gidgetgh wrote:

---

@Effie54 wrote:

And they're not going down any time soon. Did we pay these prices two years ago?? No! Hmmmmm......

---

@Effie54 - and 2 years ago, we were in the middle of a lockdown and supply was plenty and demand was low.  Supply and demand...drives the prices.

And now add in a war.  And also now add in the regular summer increase.  

---

Okay..... we were in lockdown, because we had a virus launched at us. Get real.