Finally, gas in So Cal is going down
- Thread starter Honda Fan
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PaulMys
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- Jan 14, 2014
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This was their (Big Oil) plan all along. Having people feel "happy" about paying $4 a gallon for gasoline. Jack the price up to $6-7, then slowly bring it down to $4.
Fact is, Big Oil would turn a handsome profit on $1.75 a gallon.
Criminals.
luckydawg
Active member
- Jan 19, 2016
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Just like where I use to work-- they would take stuff away that we always had-- then a year or two later let us have it back and let us know just how lucky we are to have them as our bosses
Flash Gordon
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- Feb 6, 2010
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LA will kick your ass in gas costs. But the weather sure is nice...
As someone who works at an oil refinery, I can tell you they don't set the price for gas. Sure our margins are excellent cause of the crack spread, and we're making money hand over fist, but they don't go out and tell the gas stations what to set the price at. During covid we were actually loosing money...they had to take loans out just to make payroll. Most of the profit they are making now is going back to pay for debt's that they took out during those years.
I paid $2.45 yesterday.
Flash Gordon
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- Feb 6, 2010
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And to ad gas stations don't set the price either (or are not legally suppose to). I grew up around this industry. If I remember correctly you could only charge a nickel above what you paid per gallon. It's the main reason you saw so many independent service stations turn into mini grocery stores in the mid to late 80's.
My suspicion is that gas stations are not heavy inspected/regulated as they once were and that station owners are getting very wealthy these days. It's one of the only things that I agree with Biden on. Well that and nuclear bombs. I wonder if those things even exist...
MisterSnoop
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- Sep 15, 2020
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Last I saw, the regular gasoline crack was negative. Diesel is still positive though.
Flash Gordon
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- Feb 6, 2010
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Why does gas drop drastically by the barrel but doesn't ever seem to show up at the pump?
MisterSnoop
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- Sep 15, 2020
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There's a good amount of state/federal taxes that get tacked on to the pump price. TN is on the lower side with 46 cents/gal. CA is 87 cents.
Besides that, the gas station owners set the price at the pump so they could be making more margin. Also if the price has dropped since they had gasoline delivered, they wouldn't necessarily drop the pump price as quickly because what they're selling cost them more.
chilly
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- May 13, 2006
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I paid $3.54 yesterday in Palmer Alaska
$3.69 is about average
Shell stations are at $3.99 and I always wonder why they are consistently 20-40 cents more a gallon and why people would pay that much
I know they are a "top tier" gas but at least in Alaska, the same truck that delivers their gas stops at the Holiday station down the road and fills their tanks too
I know the "top tier" station in Hawaii where we lived would dump in their proprietary additives after the tanks were filled and I guess that's an extra cost but 40 cents a gallon is a significant price difference
My son was saying a newer brand of gas stations that is expanding in the area "has the worst gas" but again, it all comes out of the same tanks at the tank farm so not sure how one is measurably different than another
IDK
$3.69 is about average
Shell stations are at $3.99 and I always wonder why they are consistently 20-40 cents more a gallon and why people would pay that much
I know they are a "top tier" gas but at least in Alaska, the same truck that delivers their gas stops at the Holiday station down the road and fills their tanks too
I know the "top tier" station in Hawaii where we lived would dump in their proprietary additives after the tanks were filled and I guess that's an extra cost but 40 cents a gallon is a significant price difference
My son was saying a newer brand of gas stations that is expanding in the area "has the worst gas" but again, it all comes out of the same tanks at the tank farm so not sure how one is measurably different than another
IDK
Diesel is where the money is at at the moment.
Desertnate
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- Aug 5, 2013
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While gas prices are dropping a bit in my area, they about to take a big jump on 1 Jan. For the last year or so, the state suspended a new gas tax increase as part of an economic relief effort when prices went nuts. That time is running out.
Right now it's about $3.50~$3.79 in my local area. However, prices are all over the map. I can drive 15 miles in any direction and save $0.10 ~ $0.30 a gallon...sometimes more. Getting gas at our local Sam's Club will save me $1.00 a gallon. My closest Costco isn't an option due to being too far away for routine use.
What really doesn't make sense is I can drive 20 miles across state lines to Missouri and save about $0.90 a gallon despite the tax difference only being about $0.25 and the fact the fuel is coming from the same local refineries which I believe are all on the Illinois side of the boarder and roughly equal distance between refineries/storage and the gas stations. Needless to say, I find excuses to drive across town to get the cheap gas.
Right now it's about $3.50~$3.79 in my local area. However, prices are all over the map. I can drive 15 miles in any direction and save $0.10 ~ $0.30 a gallon...sometimes more. Getting gas at our local Sam's Club will save me $1.00 a gallon. My closest Costco isn't an option due to being too far away for routine use.
What really doesn't make sense is I can drive 20 miles across state lines to Missouri and save about $0.90 a gallon despite the tax difference only being about $0.25 and the fact the fuel is coming from the same local refineries which I believe are all on the Illinois side of the boarder and roughly equal distance between refineries/storage and the gas stations. Needless to say, I find excuses to drive across town to get the cheap gas.
MisterSnoop
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- Sep 15, 2020
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Looks like the tax difference may be about $0.40/gallon, unless that has something to do with the economic relief effort
https://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas/consumer-information/motor-fuel-taxes/gasoline-tax
I usually buy in NJ as it's cheaper than PA. NJ taxes are only 8 cents cheaper but gas is usually 20-30 cents cheaper. I have noticed that when the price approaches a milestone like $4.00/gallon, etc., that price difference decreases as stations in NJ resist putting that '4' on their signs.
Desertnate
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- Aug 5, 2013
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I think what that site shows is what was approved and signed into law, but suspended this summer.
Even if the full amount was implemented, I still wonder why there is such a big difference. Even during the huge spike in prices this summer the difference was consistently .25 ~.30. These days it's around .90, and if you find the lucky station it's a full $1 a gallon cheaper. At one point the gap was actually wider because prices on the Missouri side of the river were falling with the national average while prices remained static far longer in my area.
I've lived here over 15 years and never seen prices behave like this.
Even if the full amount was implemented, I still wonder why there is such a big difference. Even during the huge spike in prices this summer the difference was consistently .25 ~.30. These days it's around .90, and if you find the lucky station it's a full $1 a gallon cheaper. At one point the gap was actually wider because prices on the Missouri side of the river were falling with the national average while prices remained static far longer in my area.
I've lived here over 15 years and never seen prices behave like this.
PaulMys
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- Jan 14, 2014
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That's because Big Oil is stomping on Let's Go Brandon, and basically doing whatever they want to show him their displeasure with banning/blocking pipelines, and restricting drilling.
But it doesn't hurt Brandon, it hurts the public. But neither Big Oil OR Brandon give two sh!ts about the public.
Desertnate
Well-known member
- Aug 5, 2013
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The things I was talking about have nothing to do with politics. The strange events are very localized and involve privately owned, franchised gas stations. They are not corporate owned. What's happening in a 10-mile radius of where I live can't be explained by different state fuel tax rates (the differences are half the price difference seen) or price gouging by oil companies (all of the stations buy fuel from the same local refineries which charge the same prices to all the stations buying their product).
In the past, there was a pattern. Most of the local gas was the similar in price in the state until you got up north to Chicago. Going west, the difference in price in Missouri was relative to the tax rate difference, and it got even cheaper when you got into Oklahoma. Today, that pattern still exists, EXCEPT for my local area (10~15 miles). The prices in central/southern Illinois, Chicago, Missouri, and Oklahoma have the same relative price difference spread they always have. Nothing has really changed and is exactly like it has been for over a decade. It's only the area right around me that can't be explained.
If there is an conspiracy to blame it's a handful of greedy franchise owners running the local gas stations who are trying to make record profits off the cheaper gas they are buying for the refinery. The best evidence for this is Sam's club. They are selling fuel for $0.80 cheaper than any gas station for miles around. It's illegal to sell fuel below cost, so they (like Costco) will sell it at minimal mark-up and make the profits in volume. Meanwhile the local stations are selling gas purchased at the same price as Sam's, but with a much larger mark up and larger profits which makes the prices an anomoly when compared with the rest of the region.
Flash Gordon
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- Feb 6, 2010
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I don't get this either. There are certain parts of town where gas is almost a dollar cheaper per gallon
Flash Gordon
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- Feb 6, 2010
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I think it's the service station owners doing this. Why wouldn't they? Everyone is getting away with murder under this admin.