rising gas prices

[aschrauth]

With the war on Ukraine currently going on our gas prices here have jumped to almost 4.00 a gallon! makes me glad I ride my scooter everyday instead of my car. Just curious, what are the gas prices like in your area? curious to find out.

[wymple]

I paid 3.14 in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, yesterday. I never cry about the price of gas, it's a world market controlled by supply & demand & market traders. I do know that oil companies use every little excuse they can find to jack it up as often as possible. The best way to bite back is to drive less. Having said that, gas pumps take a much smaller piece of my income than back in the 60's when I paid .40 per gallon while making 1.65 per hour. Almost 1/4 of an hour's wages. Most people I know make from 18-35 an hour know, so gas is considerably less of a hit even at 3-4 dollars a gallon. Lots of people were still making 1.00 an hour & the minimum wage was about .75 cents. The best blue collar jobs around here only paid about 2.50 an hour.

[Neil955i]

Paying £1.53 per litre here in the UK to fill the wife’s gas guzzler!

[Stig / Major Tom]

It's $.94 per liter here.🙋
($3.57 reg gal.)
We drive maybe 15>20 miles total for both cars each day....so fuel prices will never be a big concern, no matter how high it goes.
I use only 93 Shell in my 2 scooters - which runs $1 more per gal.
Stig

[mine88]

Prices averaging 1.60 a liter in Ontario but going up every couple of days.

[pa-outdoorsman]

Here in Eastern Pennsylvania, prices rose from $3.99 to $4.39 per gallon since yesterday. Wonder how much higher it will go.

Yes, I am extremely happy to have my scooter as it gets 89 mpg, compared to my 2006 Cadillac Escalade SUV that gets 12-14 mpg. So, will be driving the scooter whenever possible this year. Thankfully spring is on the horizon.

On a related note, I wonder whether there will be an increased interest in two-wheeled riding this summer due to high fuel prices. Although scooters obviously are known as gas sippers, even motorcycles get great mileage compared to most of the trucks and SUVs we are driving around.

[Kansas kymco]

I paid 3.14 in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, yesterday. I never cry about the price of gas, it's a world market controlled by supply & demand & market traders. I do know that oil companies use every little excuse they can find to jack it up as often as possible. The best way to bite back is to drive less. Having said that, gas pumps take a much smaller piece of my income than back in the 60's when I paid .40 per gallon while making 1.65 per hour. Almost 1/4 of an hour's wages. Most people I know make from 18-35 an hour know, so gas is considerably less of a hit even at 3-4 dollars a gallon. Lots of people were still making 1.00 an hour & the minimum wage was about .75 cents. The best blue collar jobs around here only paid about 2.50 an hour.

You are correct that fuel prices are a commodity traded on the open market not the refineries.  Refineries operate on margins for their profits ( the price difference between the price of crude and and what refined products sell for on the commodity market) oil refineries do not control price.  By the way the government makes more per gallon of fuel in taxes then what the refineries make per gallon.

Just like farmers don't control the price of their crops ( commodities traded on the open market).

Biden shut down pipelines and new exploration for oil while approving the Russian pipeline. The US is currently purchasing oil from Russia  so essential  we are financing the war on the Ukraine people. Not only that but approximately 30% of the fertilizer the US uses is made in Russia from oil. Russia derives 60% of their export income by the sale of oil.

The US is in a catch 22. If we ban petroleum products from Russia  the prices will skyrocket even more. If we don't we help finance the atrocities committed against the Ukraine people.

As scooter riders we have low cost transportation to offset the rising prices.  Unfortunately food price  is affected by the rising cost of oil. From fertilizer,  tractors,  harvest equipment,  transportation to  market, distribution to stores all of which take oil.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Here in Eastern Pennsylvania, prices rose from $3.99 to $4.39 per gallon since yesterday. Wonder how much higher it will go.

Yes, I am extremely happy to have my scooter as it gets 89 mpg, compared to my 2006 Cadillac Escalade SUV that gets 12-14 mpg. So, will be driving the scooter whenever possible this year. Thankfully spring is on the horizon.

On a related note, I wonder whether there will be an increased interest in two-wheeled riding this summer due to high fuel prices. Although scooters obviously are known as gas sippers, even motorcycles get great mileage compared to most of the trucks and SUVs we are driving around.

Are they still getting any oil out of the ground in Pennsylvania? (or Texas & Oklahoma I wonder)
Is all of our oil imported?
We indeed might see an increase in two wheel riding this spring - dealers could use a little good news.
Stig

[randyo]

I paid $3.19 a week ago, saw $3.69 yesterday, hope it won't be over $4 when I have to fill up next

[pa-outdoorsman]

Are they still getting any oil out of the ground in Pennsylvania? (or Texas & Oklahoma I wonder)
Is all of our oil imported?
We indeed might see an increase in two wheel riding this spring - dealers could use a little good news.
Stig

There is still some crude oil pumped in PA, along with a fair amount of coal. However, even though PA still has MASSIVE unmined coal reserves, the economics of mining it no longer make sense on a large scale due to the fact that it's a "dirty" form of energy and most power plants have either moved away from it or are in the process of doing so. In my area (a coal-mining region) coal is still a very popular home heating fuel, and still quite affordable compared to home heating oil.

However, the really big source of energy nowadays from an economic and industrial standpoint is natural gas. A large portion of our state (not my area) sits on what is called the Marcellus Shale bed, which contains huge stores of natural gas. Fracking is a major thing here, though our current Democrat governor has not been as kind towards it as previous administrations. My sense, given current events and political winds, is that if a Republican gets elected this fall (current governor finishing his second term and cannot run again) we will see a renewed push on gas drilling in the state, which is good in terms of jobs, economic impact for rural communities and energy prices for America.

[Stig / Major Tom]

There is still some crude oil pumped in PA, along with a fair amount of coal. However, even though PA still has MASSIVE unmined coal reserves, the economics of mining it no longer make sense on a large scale due to the fact that it's a "dirty" form of energy and most power plants have either moved away from it or are in the process of doing so. In my area (a coal-mining region) coal is still a very popular home heating fuel, and still quite affordable compared to home heating oil.

However, the really big source of energy nowadays from an economic and industrial standpoint is natural gas. A large portion of our state (not my area) sits on what is called the Marcellus Shale bed, which contains huge stores of natural gas. Fracking is a major thing here, though our current Democrat governor has not been as kind towards it as previous administrations. My sense, given current events and political winds, is that if a Republican gets elected this fall (current governor finishing his second term and cannot run again) we will see a renewed push on gas drilling in the state, which is good in terms of jobs, economic impact for rural communities and energy prices for America.

Fracking is done to obtain oil,... or natural gas?
Yeah - geez - if you can obtain it properly burning gas has got to be better than burning coal, I'd think?
The little I know of the people who have to go in those coal mines to make a living - it looks pretty tough.

Our major natural resources over here in Ohio seems to be pick-ups, Hondas and corn.

Stig

[pa-outdoorsman]

Fracking is done to obtain oil,... or natural gas?
Yeah - geez - if you can obtain it properly burning gas has got to be better than burning coal, I'd think?
The little I know of the people who have to go in those coal mines to make a living - it looks pretty tough.

Our major natural resources over here in Ohio seems to be pick-ups, Hondas and corn.

Stig

And deer! I have a friend who farms in Carroll County. I get out there a couple times every year to hunt. Love the landscape over there, and great deer hunting.

[Iahawk]

Are they still getting any oil out of the ground in Pennsylvania? (or Texas & Oklahoma I wonder)
Is all of our oil imported?
We indeed might see an increase in two wheel riding this spring - dealers could use a little good news.
Stig

as of 2020 the world's top 4 oil producing countries are: (in order of % or world production)

1. USA
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Russia
4. Canada

The US became a net exporter of oil for the first time in 2020 but became an importer again in 2021

source: https://www.investopedia.com/investing/worlds-top-oil-producers/

[rjs987]

Last filled the tank in my AK for $3.24/gal 3 days ago and now it's $3.39/gal. That's for regular fuel.


My wife was thinking she wanted to sell her Honda Metropolitan since she wasn't riding it as much as before. At least last year she didn't ride it as much. But as gas prices go up she's changed her mind and plans to ride it more. 100 mpg is much better than 32-34 mpg for our compact car.


I switch our home to Geothermal 11 years ago so don't burn fuel for heat or AC. I turned off all LP gas to the house at that time. Iowa is generating more and more power from wind generators. The state generates 57% of our electricity from wind now so less and less reliance on gas and oil for power. Many of the insurance and financial businesses here, and we are a hub for those nationwide, have been adding large solar arrays. One mega-church just down the street even has their own wind turbine for some supplemental power.

[Kansas kymco]

Fracking is done to obtain oil,... or natural gas?
Yeah - geez - if you can obtain it properly burning gas has got to be better than burning coal, I'd think?
The little I know of the people who have to go in those coal mines to make a living - it looks pretty tough.

Our major natural resources over here in Ohio seems to be pick-ups, Hondas and corn.

Stig

franking is to release oil trapped in rock formations.

For natural gas the US has one of the largest supplies in the world of natural gas which is extremely clean burning compared to coal.  China was bringing online a new coal fired power plant ever week for a few years. Was a extremely cheap source of energy. 

A couple of interesting articles I read about the wind turbine blades. They don't have a long lifespan and unable to be recycled. They are disposing of them by burying them in the areas that were strip mining for coal in Wyoming. 

Another fallacy are electric vehicles are clean energy.  Do some research on the disposing of spent batteries that contains heavy metals. Also research where some of these metals are mined and the contamination they create along with the health issues these people experience.

If you truly want clean energy hydrogen is the way to go. The byproduct of burning hydrogen is water.