$3.20 for a gallon of Diesel !!!

[67guzzler]

I agree. I don't understand how it's not price-fixing or at the minimum collusion. There seems to be some sort of anti-trust activity here. Basically all the gas companies are effectively just one big entity and there really isn't any competition. Price gouging is the standard and current news events are the justification.



And I'm not knocking Bush. I just think he's paying back some debts to the folks who've supported him all these years and significantly helped him get elected. In this case, it pays for him to turn the other cheek. What I resent is the facade that he somehow cares. Just admit that you don't give a crap, go to your GOP fund raisers and stay on vacation. Didn't we have enough false compassion with Clinton? Both parties / ideologies suck because they're both phoney.



Sorry -- End of rant. Sadly, the next time I fill up I'll probably be paying over $3. 00 per gal and in upwards of $100. I really wish I bought some energy stocks a year ago.

 

[jungledave]

hmmmmm my turn...

Okay so where is all that oil that is flowing down that long winding pipe line from Alaska, hmmmm being sold by our gov't to other countries for higher prices, could it be we are buying some of our own oil back at 10times the price, can someone elaborate on that one.

Second, rural areas like i live in cannot sustain this fuel crunch, pple here driving over an hour now to work for pennies due to no jobs, all have either folded up or moved out of the country(free trade act my ***), So for those of you whom live in suburbia feel fortunate, you have necessities within reach most of the time, driving shorter distances.

Its like i always have said once the farms are gone, where you going to eat? Oh but wait the lady from the city has the answer " i will just go to the grocery store" Duh!!! where does one think that comes from. So you can thank our gov't and their free trade, housing development among other things to why the rule of supply and demand is out of control, I know for a fact that Milk, yes some of the very milk you drink comes straight across the border from Mexico in non refrigerated milk trucks from Mexican farms, ohhhh now that made you think didn't it.

Our land and farmers are disappearing by the weeks, less land=less farms which=less food... . now just think what all that less means, well in order for it to be shipped from all over the country and foreign lands, guss what it takes good ole' number #2... trains, trucks, airplanes. . oh did i mention gas also.

Im done, at least i feel some better, even though our communistic gov't still won't listen to a common man with ideas that make more sense than anything they have conjured up in the last 20yrs. :-laf

As a former Kansan, I'd have to agree with you. Were I dissagree is about food production. When the farmer goes out of business there will be a huge ag corp out there to buy his land and farm it them selves. Where the production will be lost like you said will be in all that land being sold to developement. I find it hard to believe that back in Kansas in the Kaw river valley, wich is among the best siol in the world, is bieng sold out to housing. I also believe the oil problem is being caused by the same ---greed not just proffit, greed.

 

[WyattEarp]

Well guys i appreciate the replies as i was just simply speaking from my gut on this one, being only 30 myself and being within the farming community and having dealt with the dept. of ag for several years now with my dad, its amazing as to what they want a farmer to do but can't allow a farmer to do in order to grow food, for one my dad told me that during the 50's his dad raised small grain in Pa. plus dairy among other things, the guy from the Dept. of AG comes out and said you can't plant all that stuff, Grandpa's reply" the hell i can't, watch me" of course that is years past. Anymore you simply can't clear land and plant it for harvest due to regulations and red tape(i call it).

The comment i made about the Milk is very true, i talked with a guy whom has his degree in Farm science from NCState, im trying to think of the county down there but its near Union Grove, Nc. they are the largest milk producing county in the state of NC and the east coast for that matter, what gets me is why has our gov't has not said stop! "WE NEED MORE FARMERS BACK IN BUSINESS". Like i said this free trade act is killing us, sometimes things that look good on paper do not add up when it comes to the bottom line.

JungleDave i know in Kansas there are huge farms that are still in production and will never go under(thank goodness for that) But i don't think pple realize what the small farmer did for the economy but now the effects are showing, those big farms cannot substain the growing demand in the long run, I myself could care less about this oil, their going to do what they want regardless. My grandparents as well alot of others made it in times that were much harsher and economically strained than we are right now, why? because they worked their butts off for what they got, if you didn't grow what you ate then you didn't eat, i hate to say it but im a hard butt when it comes to lazy pple, way to many pple in this world that have no idea what a hard days work is.

I myself am going to strawberries next year along with other assortment of produce, i have my strawberries sold already to probably more pple than i will have berries but thats okay and the rest of the stuff will be local sold and farmers market, take in mind i work a full time job away from here, once the berry business takes off along with the other stuff i have planned they can have their night shift job i don't need it and besides my line of work is only getting harder to deal with, I am a Correctional officer, i know first hand that scum is being treated better than us hard working pple that are struggling to keep the roof over our heads each night we sleep, like i said our gov't at work...

Well if i have offended anyone im very sorry but this is my feeling on the issue. One thing i can say the pple here at the TDR are wonderful pple to chat and converse with...

Okay im through for now...

 

[moparmarty]

My two cents on diesel prices...

I remember a about 4-5 years back when gasoline was $0. 99/gallon and bottled water was $1. 50/gallon. Was that a big oil conspiracy?



I agree it's time to build more nuclear power plants. The rest of the world is doing it. France is building a new high tech one in southern France (once they get past the environmental extremest). We really have no choice - it's not a matter of if, but when. And it's very inefficient use of natural gas to generate electricity.



If you really want to reduce the cost/mile of using diesel fuel, try driving slower. I consistently get over 21 MPG when I drive 55-60MPH as opposed to 17-18 MPG when I drive at 75 MPH. The last trip I took was 1400 miles from central Oregon to central Washington almost all on backroads through the mountains. I got 21. 8 MPG (hand calc) for the entire trip.



Paying $3. 00/gal while getting 18 MPG (driving 75 MPH) is the equivalent to paying $2. 48/gallon while getting 21. 8 MPG (driving 55-60 MPH). You use 18% less fuel. So leave a little earlier, move over to the slow lane, let everyone else cut in & out, speed up then slow down, and just enjoy the journey.

 

[WyattEarp]

I drive 50-56 depending on the roads, around here you don't do over 60 unless you want to kiss a oak or eat a guardrailing. I have not figured up my calculations with driving slower, i do know im able to get 620miles out of a 34gal tank and that was at interstate speed of 70mph... .

Could i be getting more possibly, i know it takes some getting used to driving slower and some real discipline, trust me the first week of doing it drove me batty, but i adapted, now im like the 30yr old version of someone's grandpa Ed, for example.

I use Lucas oil in the cummins also, it quietens it down and mainly i use it for the pump problems pple have been having, working on 110,000 with no problems. I also try to plan my trips around multiple tasks, say grocery shopping/ autozone stop or walmart(chinamart) for just about anything you could need whenever i need it. My truck has set for 1-2 weeks at a time and not left the drive except for work and back, but me and the neighbor carpool also, so the help.

The only other thing i could think of that would help my fuel usage would be to walk and town is just to far for that. :-laf

 

[WM-300]

You can build all the Nuke Power Plants amd anything else. You will never see the price of fuel drop, it will just keep climbing. Gasoline and Diesel in Europe has been in the $5. 00 US price range per gallon for a long time. The oil companies figure if Europe is paying that, why not make us pay it also. Crude Oil from this country should not be allowed to be sold overseas, it should be for US use only. Here in the Mountains, diesel is 2. 899 a gallon as of yesterday. Howabout the stations raising the price of fuel already in their tanks bought/produced at the lower price. They dont even wait till they get a new load to up the price. Something is very, very wrong



Paul (fed up and cant do anything

 

[TSpecht]

Fuel prices in Europe do not mean a thing to us. The reason fuel is expensive in Europe is because their Governments tax it at a ridiculous rate. Without the taxes they would see practically what we see. Do a little research on the topic, it's interesting how different nations deal with fuel taxes and so forth.

And the reason the Government can't go ahead and fix the price at a certain level is because it'll simply increase exports, and probably shut down some local oil wells due to not being able to get as much of a proft out of it. I mean you are in business to make money, right? Basic economics gives us a pretty good idea Government controls in anything are a pretty bad idea. I have yet to see a problem the Government was able to fix without at least creating one other problem.

 

[2Gen3Gen]

This is FREE and if you had a few too many drinks, it will run that much better! :-laf :-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[Elite1]

Don't forget to thank the environmentalist movement for helping to restrict increasing refinery capacity, and for different localities demanding different grades of "special" fuel...

This from the LA Times a few days ago:



Judge Bars New Coastal Oil Drilling

A federal government plan to extend offshore leases is put on hold pending a wider environmental study that could take years.



By Kenneth R. Weiss, Times Staff Writer



A federal judge effectively blocked new oil drilling off the California coast, ordering federal officials not to allow exploratory wells or other activity until they conduct a more extensive study of the environmental risks — a process that could take years.



The federal government wants to extend leases on 36 offshore tracts between Oxnard and San Luis Obispo so that oil companies can turn them into working oil fields. State officials and environmental groups have been fighting the plan on several fronts. Friday's ruling by U. S. District Judge Claudia Wilken came a day after the California Coastal Commission raised official objections to the same federal plan.



ADVERTISEMENT



The judge's ruling at a hearing Friday in Oakland came as a surprise to federal officials, who scrambled for clarification.



"We know we cannot move forward until additional environmental analysis has been conducted," said John Romero, a spokesman for the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service. "We don't know exactly what that means. "



Meanwhile, lawyers representing 10 environmental groups that brought the lawsuit declared the ruling a major victory for those concerned about the risk of oil spills.



"This means our coast remains protected," said Linda Krop, chief counsel of the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara. "Nothing is going to happen for years. "



Even if the federal government appeals Wilken's decision, no ruling would be likely until late next year at the earliest.



The court fight involves one of the few parts of the California coast that is not already off-limits to new oil drilling. The stretch of coastline includes 36 tracts off Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties that were leased to oil companies between 1968 and 1984 but never developed into undersea oil fields.



All of the leases were set to expire more than 15 years ago. But the Minerals Management Service has repeatedly extended them over state officials' objections.



The 36 leases sit atop an estimated 512 million barrels of oil and have been the focus of regulatory and legal battles almost from the time they were first issued.



The companies that own the leases have filed their own lawsuit against the federal government, demanding that officials either allow them to drill or buy back the leases, which initially were purchased for $1. 25 billion.









http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oil13aug13,1,7264015.story?coll=la-headlines-california

 

[RustyJC]

Okay so where is all that oil that is flowing down that long winding pipe line from Alaska, hmmmm being sold by our gov't to other countries for higher prices, could it be we are buying some of our own oil back at 10times the price, can someone elaborate on that one.

OK, I'll respond on the basis that this is a legitimate inquiry and that you're more interested in generating light than heat in this "discussion".



Most Alaskan oil has always gone to Japan. The reason is simple. The West Coast of the U. S. does not have the refining capacity to handle all the Alaskan oil that comes through TAPS (the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System), and the supertankers that carry this oil are too large to fit through the Panama Canal to get the oil to Gulf Coast refineries.



In the grand scheme of things, though, since crude oil is a commodity, it doesn't matter. To oversimplify, the Alaskan oil is sold to Japan for the going price ($X/bbl), then oil is purchased for the same $X/bbl from countries such as Venezuela and sent to Gulf Coast refineries. No one is paying "10 times the going price" for a commodity.



Rusty

 

[WyattEarp]

Im glad someone shed some light on that because i knew i was right in one aspect wasn't sure about the other.

With all the technology and superior advance we have made(wasting money on the space shuttle) there is no possible way to pipe it to the gulf or even close, is it my understanding there are pipelines that run from TX. all the way to Kansas, I know i read somewhere on here that pipelines are being run for several hundred miles from gas refinery hubs to sub hubs(im guessing thats what they are) and the oil can't be moved in the same fashion.

Actually Rusty i was looking for some insight and not a heated discussion, thanks for the info, that does make more sense.

I don't get it i guess, they can send a man billions of miles of the face of the earth but can't pipe oil another 1500-2000 miles further(scratches head in confusion)

 

[JCleary]

OK, I'll respond on the basis that this is a legitimate inquiry and that you're more interested in generating light than heat in this "discussion".



Most Alaskan oil has always gone to Japan. The reason is simple. The West Coast of the U. S. does not have the refining capacity to handle all the Alaskan oil that comes through TAPS (the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System), and the supertankers that carry this oil are too large to fit through the Panama Canal to get the oil to Gulf Coast refineries.



In the grand scheme of things, though, since crude oil is a commodity, it doesn't matter. To oversimplify, the Alaskan oil is sold to Japan for the going price ($X/bbl), then oil is purchased for the same $X/bbl from countries such as Venezuela and sent to Gulf Coast refineries. No one is paying "10 times the going price" for a commodity.



Rusty

It's nice to see someone else on this board has some sense. Crude oil is a globally traded commodity.



Prices are not controlled by the U. S. Gov't.



Anyone who thinks that is plain ignorant. Additionally, they get their "news" from three second sound bytes on TV, rather than taking the time to understand what's really going on.



Bush has only been in office January 20, 2001. To my recollection, oil prices fluctuated before that date, too.



There are a lot of people here who love to use W. as a scapegoat. Y'all give him too much cretit. There are plenty of other politicians to point your fingers at, but they don't control the price of oil, either.



They just tell you what you want to hear, because they all want to get re-elected.

 

[Hercules130]

I thought there was a very large trans alaska oil pipeline or something like that, that ran down canada. i remember my dad made me watch the construction videos of it when i was a kid

 

[RustyJC]

Actually, there are crude oil and refined product pipelines that run extremely long distances. Refined products (gasoline, diesel, etc. ) move all the way from the Gulf Coast to New York through the Colonial Pipeline system, and gasoline is shipped from the Gulf Coast to Tucson and Phoenix by pipeline as well - remember the supply problems and price spikes in Arizona when one of the pipelines ruptured within the last year or two??



Alaskan crude oil could be transported by pipeline to the Gulf Coast, but the cost of building and operating the pipeline, as well as the environmental difficulties getting a pipeline approved for construction, make that a non-starter. It's cheaper to do what they're doing - sell the Alaskan crude to Japan and replace it (for basically the same cost) with Venezuelan or other crude oil. Besides, Prudhoe Bay production is dropping dramatically!



Rusty

 

[RustyJC]

I thought there was a very large trans alaska oil pipeline or something like that, that ran down canada. i remember my dad made me watch the construction videos of it when i was a kid

There was a pipeline built that roughly paralleled the Alcan Highway to supply military fuel (planes, tanks, etc) to Alaska during WWII. It was quite an engineering feat - built in a hurry through some really challenging territory!



Rusty

 

[WyattEarp]

I do watch news but if sure isn't sound bytes, i do know whats going on and that is why i asked if anyone has more info on as to why the ALaskan oil was being sold over seas instead of being kept here, Rusty thanks for the info again.

As far as pointing fingers at any one politician, my Opinion is they need to wash the place clean and start over from scratch, every barn stall needs a good cleaning ever so often, i think the Crap is getting built up way to high up on the hill so to speak, but thats something we all know is fact.

I will bide my time as to when this situation starts shutting down parts of the US. ; then we can see just what our gov't is made of to help pple out.

I hope im wrong about it but rural america where pple earn minimum wage and drive over an hour to work can't withstand such a increase, basically pple here are working just to put gas in the tank, especially when pple are filling up every other day at a rate of now $50+ a fillup, its just crazy.



But this is just my opinion on the subject.

 

[Van Blom]

It's nice to see someone else on this board has some sense. Crude oil is a globally traded commodity.



Prices are not controlled by the U. S. Gov't.



Anyone who thinks that is plain ignorant. Additionally, they get their "news" from three second sound bytes on TV, rather than taking the time to understand what's really going on.



Bush has only been in office January 20, 2001. To my recollection, oil prices fluctuated before that date, too.



There are a lot of people here who love to use W. as a scapegoat. Y'all give him too much cretit. There are plenty of other politicians to point your fingers at, but they don't control the price of oil, either.



They just tell you what you want to hear, because they all want to get re-elected.

Oil companys are making RECORD PROFITS!!!

Yes, crude prices have always fluctuated but,record profits? I say again, The oil companys are making record profits. Now, maybe Dubua isn't involved in this ripoff of the entire nation, (everything moves by truck) even if he is a T exas oil man, but I think, perhaps, he should have a talk with his petrolium cronies and tell them not to be quite so greedy. I don't give a flying @#$& what political party you subscribe to, every one of us is getting raped whether you drive a diesel or not. #@$%!

 

[Matt400]

3.20 is a good deal--

If my math is not all wrong it looks like 3. 20 is a good deal



Wait before you say... what the heck!! :-{}



Friend of mine wants a new truck and won't go diesel especially with the gas prices, he is looking at a gas 12mpg rig. My truck is now at 19 mpg.

So the way I figure at 2. 90 for gas he will spend 24. 16 to go 100 miles and I at 3. 20 will spend 16. 83 to go the same 100 miles.



Looks like diesel would have to get up to 4. 59 before my costs per mile would match his, then if I changed to gas I gotta change spark plugs and deal with less power. Is my math wrong?

 

[Heavyweight]

Chevron is having hard times... . 3. 8 billion "NET" in the second quarter of 2005! Maybe they should shut down a few more refineries, that way, we can really blame the $67-100 per barrel price on the Damned Saudi's... .



3. 8 billion... .....

 

[2Gen3Gen]

If my math is not all wrong it looks like 3. 20 is a good deal



Wait before you say... what the heck!! :-{}



Friend of mine wants a new truck and won't go diesel especially with the gas prices, he is looking at a gas 12mpg rig. My truck is now at 19 mpg.

So the way I figure at 2. 90 for gas he will spend 24. 16 to go 100 miles and I at 3. 20 will spend 16. 83 to go the same 100 miles.



Looks like diesel would have to get up to 4. 59 before my costs per mile would match his, then if I changed to gas I gotta change spark plugs and deal with less power. Is my math wrong?

Do you work for the oil company? Thinking like that will get us $5 a gallon by next week. Now, an apology and an Im sorry will be accepted! :-laf :-laf :-laf