No hike in sight!
54 comments Wednesday, 05-30-12 | Posted By Ed Aboufadel | Predictions
Comment on the May 20 prediction: We hiked on May 22 to $3.89, so, unfortunately, CORRECT.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 2:30PM: In late March, wholesale gas prices of about $3.30 in the Midwest corresponded to a hike to $4.15 in Michigan. This afternoon, prices keep tumbling at the wholesale level ($2.73 this afternoon), which, if it persists, means retail prices could drop below $3.40. The lowest right now is $3.50, and we’ve got prices in the $3.70′s in the certain places in Grand Rapids. I don’t see any price hike coming for the next several days. — Ed A.
That’s a pretty bold prediction going into a Thursday during a period where Speedway has been surprising us with their unnecessary resets.
The Chicago spot finished yesterday down 0.46¢ (0.16%) to $2.8039. That moved the Michigan spike lines to:
$3.597174 without a rack adjustment, plus Speedway 10¢ summer surcharge
$3.497174 without a rack adjustment
The Michigan average is currently $3.649. Yesterday’s average of Speedway stations in Michigan was $3.6294. Apparently, 83 (29.02%) Speedway stations in Michigan raised their price yesterday.
The Indiana average is currently $3.641. Yesterday’s average of Speedway stations in Indiana was $3.6506. No Indiana Speedway stations were recorded as having raised their price yesterday.
New York June gasoline futures are down 1.77¢ this morning to $2.8405.
New York July gasoline futures are down 1.57¢ this morning to $2.7582.
New York July WTI crude oil futures are down 28¢ this morning to $87.54.
No Speedway reset today in Michigan, Indiana, or Ohio. Prices should keep falling through at least 9:30 a.m. ET Monday.
By Monday, the Michigan retail average will probably have fallen below the 10¢ summer surcharge spike line.
Well, the NFP jobs report pooped the bed. 69k vs expected 150k. March and April revised LOWER. Maybe this dose of reality will drop RBOB and oil back to realistic levels. Doubt it though.
Chris, it will have the reverse effect. Since investors will not look at stocks, they will turn to oil commodities.
And then when the job report is good, investors will still turn to oil as its a sign the economy is better.
And a hurricane.
June 1 – Yahoo Finance
Oil
83.68
-2.85
-3.29%
It is too late to turn the tide. Industry consolidation, both at the supply, refining, and retail, has accomplished incredible pricing power in very few hands.
Ask yourself if Best Buy or Kroger could afford to sell the exact same item in two stores a few miles apart for as much as 10% difference, or if they could get away if they played the spike game on bread or Xbox games.
The problem is that the same consumers who are relatively diligent in seeking the best prices for a car, a flat screen TV, or a brand name shirt are totally clueless or indifferent when it comes to gasoline.
I am now sensing that new pricing games are being deployed. variations of zone pricing, etc. Am I the only one thinking this?
We’re good for another day. No Speedway reset this morning in Michigan’s lower peninsula, Indiana, or Ohio.
The Chicago spot finished Friday up 1.41¢ (0.51%) to $2.7868. That moved the Michigan spike lines to:
$3.579048 without a rack adjustment, plus 10¢ summer surcharge
$3.479048 without a rack adjustment
The Michigan retail average is now $3.595. The lowest price in the state is $3.289 at 4 locations in Davison (east of Flint)(Davidson residents can thank 1 Stop for this price). Two stations are still reported above $3.999: $4.099 at BP next to Detroit Metro Airport and $4.109 in Phoenix (near end of Keweenaw Peninsula).
The Grand Rapids average is $3.53. The lowest price is $3.369 at Admiral and Marathon in the 2100 block of Plainfield Ave. NE.
The Kalamazoo average is $3.577. The lowest price is $3.479 at the BP in Richland and $3.489 at 10 locations total on Gull Rd., E. Main St., in Parchment, and Citgo in Richland.
The national average is $3.601.
Prices in Cincinnati remain high, where the average is $3.612 (comparatively even higher, because Ohio fuel taxes are lowest of the 5 Great Lakes states). In comparison, Toledo is $3.481 and Fort Wayne is $3.482. Why have prices been so much higher in Cincinnati lately?
New York July gasoline futures are down 1.14¢ this morning to $2.6454.
New York July WTI crude oil futures are down 34¢ this morning to $82.89.
As far as the free tea Speedway gave away on Friday, May 25, it tasted like what I paid for it. I got sweetened tea at 2 different locations. Both tasted bitter, even with raspberry syrup added to my second cup. I certainly would never pay for this. If I paid for it, I’d get it at McDonald’s, which tastes much better, is already cold (don’t have to add ice), is only $1, and there are free refills.
You may be on to something with zone pricing. I was in Lexington KY today. On US 60, gas is going for $3.319. A few miles up I-75(OK, 20 miles), it’s $3.699.
The Chicago spot finished today up 6.39¢ (2.29%) to $2.8507. That moves the Michigan spike lines to:
$3.646782 without a rack adjustment, plus 10¢ summer surcharge
$3.546782 without a rack adjustment
The Michigan retail average is currently $3.593. The last Speedway reset was two weeks ago tomorrow, on Tuesday, May 22 when they went to $3.899. If Speedway resets tomorrow, $3.759 or $3.799 are likely.
New York July gasoline futures settled today up 1.39¢ to $2.6707.
New York July WTI crude oil futures settled today up 75¢ to $83.98.
Oil Prices Plunge: Why It’s Not Good for the Economy
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/oil-prices-plunge-why-not-good-economy-165621142.html
“Although “speculators” are an easy target for many unpopular price moves, it should be no mystery what’s really driving oil prices. Supply and demand. In the past couple of decades, the world has added about 3 billion new capitalists in China, India, and elsewhere, and the surging economies in these countries are driving up demand for a finite commodity. If oil prices didn’t skyrocket under those conditions, we would have a real mystery on our hands. But they have.”
The article should mention how many miles a day these new capitalists drive…. I once spent quite a bit of time trying to find out how much gasoline the Chinese consume per capita, and compare it to us. Data was not easy to come by as they’re not releasing much info, nor do they publish what subsidies they provide. The best guess I could make was that adjusted for country size and miles driven, the average Chinese consumes one eighth of the gasoline one American does.
The Greedway, I mean Speedway, Sorry, in Traverse City is at $3.499. So the hike is not unexpected. Even though today was the only day in the last week that Crude Oil was up just $1 and we go up 33cents at the pump. That just doesn’t make sense.
By the way people I called the Legislature about the last hike we had to $3.999 to see if we could get something done and the secretary to Ray (the man who keeps an eye on the prices in that city) said he would call me back if it was important and he never did so that tells me they don’t care what so ever.
I had lived in Wisconsin for 5 months and the law there states gas stations are NOT allowed to raise or lower more than 5cents in a 24 hour period.
9:59 a.m. Tuesday
As I expected yesterday, Speedway is resetting this morning to $3.799 in Michigan.
The first locations to report were:
9:51 Portage, 8379 Portage Rd.
9:54 Dearborn, 20180 Outer Dr.
10:03 Wyoming, 3605 Burlingame Ave. SW
Adrian (1367 S. Main St.) was reported at $3.899 at 9:41 a.m., but that may have been a data entry error.
It is not yet clear if anything is happening in Indiana or Ohio. Indiana typically does not have reports until after Michigan.
At this moment, Speedway’s website only lists Ann Arbor (2799 Plymouth) and Cheboygan (401 Mackinaw Ave.) at $3.799. However, those are not reset prices. Those stations were already at that price. Ann Arbor typically has among the highest priced Speedways in the state (there are no Speedways in the upper peninsula). Ann Arbor also usually has the highest metropolitan average in Michigan. The Ann Arbor average is currently $3.655, compared to a Michigan average of $3.585.
Speedway at 15 and Dodge Park in Sterling Heights (48312) went from $3.49 to $3.799.
Any explanation how oil drops $12, and gas drops $0.30, but when it goes up $1, gas jumps back $0.30. Does that mean when oil is back at $95, we will be paying $7.80 a gallon?
The head of Speedway should be taken out and hanged. We just went up 21 cents today. Everyone should stop buying at Speedway. Not for a day, not for a week, but for good. Its just plain wrong.
Ohio jumping to $3.659
In Traverse City, MI Greedway led every station at 10:30am to $3.799.
$3.79 is the new price in Essexville/Hampton, oddly enough the local speedway’s sign is still at 3.49 a gallon at Center Road (M-25) at a little past 3pm.
I hope drivers were able to fill up this morning before the hike to $3.79 and win the Gas Game!
I got gas at 11am. Topped off my tank and 2 5gallon gas cans at $3.449.
I had a hunch last night when I noticed prices stabilizing, and filled up at $3.399 (with fuel discounts at the Speedway on Lake Lansing/Wood in Lansing). The way I see it, the key is to buy gas when they are losing profit.
Oddly enough though, some typical hold-outs in south Lansing went up earlier than the normal 4 PM time… while all Shell locations west of US-127 in Lansing, and Speedway locations that typically go up, remained at $3.47 ($3.49 for Shell) as of 7:00 PM this evening.
Aside from the recent hike this fall, Speedway has a video that employees see in the back room of each store called “Speedway Today”. This is sort of a news-magazine, if you will. This month’s edition talks about Speedway’s recent take-over of the Indiana and Ohio gas station chain Gas America. The basic summary was that Speedway has acquired 87 (I always thought it was 88) locations, converting them over to Speedway at a rate of 8 per day/night. The segment I found funniest was this:
As a map shows Speedway locations in red, and Gas America locations in yellow, the woman narrating the video says “Have you ever driven the stretch of I-70 between Indianapolis and western Ohio, and noticed so few opportunities to quench your thirst with a Speedy freeze?”
So I wasn’t able to get an icee/slurpee at Gas America?
Here in the Central Indiana area a couple of Gas Americas that I drive past converted to Speedway and a couple closed. State Road 32 from Westfield to Noblesville has 4 or so Speedways, two within a few blocks of each other. It is laughable.
If people do not take the recent couple of spikes as a wake up call, I do not know what it will take…
hmmm? possible monolply on gas in the great lakes region? Speedway seems to have alot of stations on every corner.
For many weeks now, crude has dropped from $106 to $86, about 20%. It’s hard to see that the retail price has lost anywhere near that %age. Losing 20% of the retail would mean prices at the pump would be (at 20¢ per $, that would be 80¢) about $3.20.
The big thing about Speedway price swings is grand obfuscation of what is really happening with pricing. One has a tough time seeing the trend in downward prices. With price spikes happening every week or two, it becomes much easier to hold onto a profit during downward prices.
Filled up both cars at my local Kroger last night. Used 2000 fuel points for $2 off/gallon.
35 gallons @ $1.559 saved me $73.50 over Greed, er, Speedway’s spike price.
I NEVER use Speedway.
Wednesday
One independent Kalamazoo retailer was $3.699 credit / $3.649 cash and doing good business last night around 9. It was still at those prices around 9 this morning. I think that station was about 5¢ lower when Tuesday began, so it did raise prices in response to Speedway’s reset. It will be interesting to see if that station goes up more sometime today or stays at those prices. All the nearby competition was $3.759 for both cash and credit this morning, so cash customers were saving 11¢ at the independent retailer.
At least one Kalamazoo-area Speedway station is slacking off on diesel again. That Speedway is $3.899, while its competitor immediately across the street is $3.799.
The Chicago spot finished yesterday up 3.4¢ (1.19%) to $2.8847.
New York July gasoline futures settled yesterday up 1.4¢ to $2.6847. They are currently up another 2.48¢ this morning.
New York July WTI crude oil futures settled yesterday up 31¢ to $84.29. They are currently up another $1.31 this morning to $85.60.
It looks like Patrick took yesterday off, because there are no new tweets and nothing about yesterday’s reset.
RE David -
Patrick has directly addressed this question:
FAQ answered: why don’t gasoline prices directly follow oil?
http://blog.gasbuddy.com/posts/FAQ-answered-why-don-t-gasoline-prices-directly-follow-oil/1715-496667-1024.aspx
So with the price of a barrel of oil still down around $85 what is the reason behind the 30 plus cents a gallon spike we suddenly had Tuesday afternoon. I am just glad that I fueled up for $3.45 before it all came down and hope everyone else was able to also!
I was lucky and filled up on Plainfield @ Meijer for $3.31 on Monday night. I never EVER buy gas from Speedway. And I never EVER buy gas in Rockford, MI because they are always the highest price in town. I am always at a place either on way to work or way home, or errands, where I can get gas cheaper than Rockford. My “most often bought from” places are Meijer and Sam’s Club.
RE Mike -
“Speedway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.”
Marathon Petroleum Corporation is a company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MPC: http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=MPC
So, if you want “the head of Speedway … taken out and hanged,” you have tens of thousands of Marathon shareholders to ultimately hold responsible, as they are the owners of Speedway.
It would be neat if Speedy Rewards points were redeemable for a share of Marathon stock, currently $36.93 (up today $1.73 or 4.92%). Over the past 52 weeks, Marathon shares have been as high as $47.43 (July 1, 2011) and as low as $26.35 (September 29, 2011). It is interesting the low point of the stock price coincides with the annual autumn fall in gas prices. It is probably cyclical, meaning this September might be a good time to begin purchasing Marathon stock for your hostile takeover. It is also interesting Marathon stock is up a good bit today, after they raised prices yesterday. I wonder how effective predicting a gas price reset is for predicting a good day to buy MPC stock at a lower price? Maybe we should all stop screwing around and start buying MPC stock on the same days we’re buying gas to win the gas game.
There are 340,722,000 MPC shares outstanding. That means if you could redeem Speedy Rewards for 1 share of MPC, you would own .000000293494403% of the company. If you owned 100,000 shares, you would own .0293494403% of the company. It would only take $3,693,000 to do that (at the current share price), so what are you waiting for?
Looking at Speedway’s site, most(I’d say 80%) of the stations in SW Ohio either have not raised to the new spike price, or did and have already come back down. Maybe after the limited success of their last 4 spike attempts, they are being more selective, with respect to locations.
ChrisDG74
check your math, you saved $70
But we get your point, i a 2K points, thank Kroger for 4x fuel points and my immediate need of of a new Grill.
I only have a 16 gallon tank, so I always take 4-5 gas cans to make sure I save my $1 on all 35 gallons.
Also Meijer starting on Friday will be giving $.10 off with a meijer credit card until Labor Day.
The Spike Line page shows the following statistics for yesterday’s reset:
* In Michigan, 181 Speedways went up, 63.07% of the Speedway locations in Michigan.
* Ohio – 207 – 45.2%
* Indiana – 91 – 31.82%
As far as the Cincinnati (southwest Ohio) area, Cincinnati already had the highest average gas prices in Ohio, so Cincinnati prices were already up there. In fact, the Cincinnati average (currently $3.593) is now 1.9¢ LOWER than it was at 11:11 a.m. on Monday ($3.612).
In comparison, Toledo increased from an average of $3.481 to $3.594 now (+11.3¢).
Fort Wayne increased from $3.482 at 11:11 a.m. on Monday to $3.593 now (+11.1¢).
Current Ohio averages:
$3.603 Akron
$3.597 Dayton
$3.595 Ohio
$3.594 Toledo
$3.593 Cincinnati
$3.587 NATIONAL AVERAGE
$3.583 Cleveland
$3.56 Columbus
Only 4.3¢ separates the highest Ohio average from the lowest.
Champaign, Illinois has the current lowest average among the Great Lakes states: $3.472
The lowest average of the 3 big Speedway states is in the town with no Speedways, $3.497 in Evansville, Indiana.
While July New York gasoline futures are currently up only .58¢, February, May, June, and July 2013 are all up over 4¢. I guess that just reflects low trading volume. There is some similarity in the WTI crude oil market, where the front month contract is up 80¢, but December 2013 is up $1.60 and June 2014 is up $1.82.
As of about 5:35 this evening, the independent station I mentioned above was still at $3.699 credit / $3.649 cash, so I guess they’re sticking with a 5¢ increase for Speedway’s Tuesday reset.
The Speedway I mentioned above was still sitting at $3.899 for diesel around 5:20 this evening. Meanwhile, its competitor across the street has dropped for $3.699 for diesel. It will be interesting to see how long that Speedway remains 20¢ higher than the station right across the street.
The Chicago spot finished today up 3.06¢ (1.06%) to $2.9153. That moves the Michigan spike lines to:
$3.715258 without a rack adjustment, plus 10¢ summer surcharge
$3.615258 without a rack adjustment
The Michigan average is now $3.733.
Does that mean there will be another hike by possibly next week Diether?
Ed, check YOUR math. LOL
$3.659(spike price) minus $1.559(price I paid) = $2.10
$2.10 x 35 gallons = $73.50.
@ EdDetroit – SWEET on the 10 cents from Meijer!!
I will continue to buy my gasoline at Sam’s Club, it is hands down way cheaper and more consistent in it’s pricing than any Speedway, BP, or Marathon ever has been.
Since my last post…
The independent retailer has raised its prices another 5¢ to $3.699 cash / $3.749 credit. Meanwhile, most of the competition has lowered their prices to $3.739 for both cash and credit, meaning the independent retailer is now 1¢ higher for credit/debit.
Meanwhile, that Speedway is still sitting at $3.899 for diesel, 20¢ higher than its competitor across the street at $3.699.
The Chicago spot finished today up 3.47¢ (1.19%) to $2.95. That moves the Michigan spike lines to:
$3.75204 without a rack adjustment, plus 10¢ summer surcharge
$3.65204 without a rack adjustment
The Michigan average is currently $3.728, below the summer surcharge spike line. If the Chicago market is up tomorrow (Friday) as well, we could get a reset to $3.899 on Monday in Michigan’s lower peninsula.
New York July gasoline futures settled at $2.685 today. That is 26.5¢ BELOW Chicago.
RE Turbo46032 -
China Set to Announce Steepest Fuel-Price Cut Since 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-07/china-set-to-announce-steepest-fuel-price-cut-since-2008.html
“State-controlled fuel prices will drop by 620 yuan ($97) a metric ton, equivalent to 28 cents a gallon, starting tomorrow”
RE Tom Rush -
I want to emphasize again that Marathon branded stations are independently owned, even though Marathon Petroleum Company owns Speedway. So, if you have any Speedway anger, don’t take it out on Marathon branded stations.
Re Tom Rush –
I concur with Diether. The Marathon closest to me is almost always the cheapest within a 3-mile radius. Also, when there is a spike, they usually do not go up to the “memo price”, but rather, somewhere in between.
9:58 a.m. Monday
THE GOOD NEWS: The prediction I made Thursday evening ( http://www.thegasgame.com/2012/05/30/no-hike-in-sight/#comment-3828 ) was 100% correct.
THE BAD NEWS: I predicted “a reset to $3.899 on Monday in Michigan’s lower peninsula.”
I personally observed this increase beginning at 9:24 a.m. when a Speedway had $3.899 on their manual street sign, but the price on the pumps was still $3.699. About 5 minutes later, the next Speedway I passed still had $3.699 on their street sign. The normal procedure is to raise the price on the street sign, then on the pumps.
In other news, the uncompetitive on DIESEL Speedway I have been talking about was still $3.899 this morning, while its competitor directly across the street was still 20¢ lower at $3.699. The situation has been the same (20¢ different) since Wednesday evening. That is a period of 4.5 days. Maybe with gasoline prices resetting today, that Speedway will finally match its competitor. I’ll let you know.
Ohio jumping to $3.799.
The Chicago spot finished Friday up 8.02¢ (2.72%) to $3.0302. That moved the Michigan spike lines to:
$3.837052 without a rack adjustment, plus 10¢ summer surcharge
$3.737052 without a rack adjustment
Had I checked the market on Friday, this would have gone from a “we could get a reset” prediction to a PRICES WILL RESET ON MONDAY prediction. Today’s reset is only 16.1948¢ over the no-surcharge spike line, meaning I would have expected a reset to $3.959.
The Michigan retail average this morning was $3.716, 2.1052¢ below the no-surcharge spike line. It is useful to make these comparisons immediately at the time Speedway is resetting, as it helps with future predictions. AAA’s 3 a.m. Michigan retail average was $3.73.
The first Michigan locations to report this morning’s reset were:
9:45 Alma, 7321 N. Alger Rd.
9:57 Oshtemo Township (Kalamazoo), 1250 S. Drake Rd.
10:01 Oshtemo Township (Kalamazoo), 6150 Stadium Dr.
10:14 Portage, 8379 Portage Rd.
10:14 Hartland, 10070 Highland Rd.
The lowest prices in Michigan this morning were:
$3.289 at 2 Admirals and Murphy*USA (Wal*Mart) in Sturgis
$3.439 at Marathon on U.S. 12 in Sturgis
$3.479 at Clark in St. Johns
$3.479 at 2 Admirals, 2 Speedways, Family Fare Quick Stop, and Beacon & Bridge Market in Alma
$3.479 at Admiral in Ithaca
$3.479 at Sam’s Club on E. Edgewood Blvd. in Lansing
The Grand Rapids metropolitan area retail average pre-reset this morning was: $3.708.
The Kalamazoo metropolitan area retail average pre-reset this morning was: $3.669
The national average this morning was: $3.559.
Speedway is resetting to $3.799 this morning in Ohio.
It appears $3.859 is the price in Indiana, as there are 25 Speedways reported at that price, but only 1 at $3.899.
Every station in SW Ohio hit the memo price within a 10 minute period. Guess the zone pricing wasn’t working for them.
Speedway at 28th and Byron Center at 3.89 at 11:00 this morning
These Monday spikes also seem to occur in conjunction with the announcement of the Lundberg survey, especially if the survey reports a decrease! It’s a license for Greedway, et. al., to siphon more out of our pockets!
Toledo went from $3.60 average to $3.79 at the pumps around 10am, the usual time for a spike. (I filled up this morning @ $3.54, thank heavens!)
Collusion?
Diether –
Maybe I missed it, but why has the Chicago spot been up compared to the NYMEX which is down into the $82/$2.66 range today? That $0.40 is significant to the point of $8/week, or close to an extra $400 a year I have to pay for gas just myself.
Is it possible that there is a refinery problem in Illinoise? Otherwise it seems like the refinery that had problems over on the west coast is having an impact on the Great Lakes region too. Traverse City’s Greedway is up to $3.899 at 10:30am. Everybody except Mutual Service Station went up within an hour of Greedway.
Given WTI’s fall today, and the corresponding Speedway spike, I feel we have to start awarding some prize to the Speedway execs for timing spikes right when crude comes down. This seems to be happening on a regular basis here:
(a) crude tries to make an up swing in price, no more than $3-4 usually in a 2-3 day period
(b) we’re at the low point of the spike cycle (i.e. we’re paying what everyone else is paying)
(c) spike occurs as expected
(d) crude gives back its recent 2-3 day gains in a single “OMG the sky is falling” moment
(e) we’re stuck with high prices for another week or two
The above seems to be SOP since we started seeing prices drop in the $80′s. Well timed spikes seem to be working well (not to mention zone pricing and regional Chicago style pricing) to make sure we pay the piper…
RE Scott, David, and Andrew:
Here is what Patrick wrote about today’s reset:
“Wood River refinery + EIA dropping Midwest inventories= Great Lakes highest wholesale of ANY region (inc. West Coast!)”
Here’s Patrick’s blog post about today’s reset: http://blog.gasbuddy.com/posts/West-Coast-pain-at-pump-easing-Great-Lakes-gets-opposite/1715-500188-1080.aspx
In other news, Patrick wrote this Friday morning:
“BREAKING: Speedway expanding dominance in IN, KY, and OH, purchases 97-stores from Road Ranger and GasAmerica”
“Speedway’s latest acquisition involves the purchase announced on June 5, in which Speedway will acquire ten stores across Ohio and Northern Kentucky from Road Ranger, in exchange for a Chicagoland truck stop and cash, according to a Marathon Petroleum press release.”
Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) stock closed today up 52¢ (1.39%) to $37.88. When I last posted about MPC on June 6, the price was $36.93.
The only good news here is the Chicago spot finished today up only a fraction (0.14¢) to $3.0316.
Thank goodness I did not work today, as I notice this hike was a no hold-outs hike… at least here in the Lansing area.
Marathon decided that they needed to shut down a crucial Kentucky refinery during the peak of driving season. This is interesting to see Speedway purchasing more stores. Perhaps it is the acquisition of all of these stores, in addition to the shutdown of the Wood River facility that caused this to be a “no hold-outs” hike?
Toledo just spiked again–bunch of stations, including several Greedways, now @ $3.90-$3.92.
A spike two days in a row–total of forty cents in some areas if not more! (Toledo average is now up to $3.84 from $3.60 yesterday morning.)
I don’t recall a spike like this since the hurricane which hit the Gulf Coast a couple of years ago (the name of which I don’t recall).
Still $3.799 in SW Ohio. I remember the hurricane as well(not the name though). The one that hit Texas. Gas jumped 50 cents total during 2 days, ON A WEEKEND!
RE Scott:
Have you personally observed prices of $3.909 in Toledo?
I see those prices on GasBuddy, but all were reported by the same user “jimmyjamz.” In the entire state of Ohio, the only Speedways on GasBuddy above $3.799 are 8 Speedways in Toledo, all reported between 11:00 and 11:18 this morning by “jimmyjamz.”
That alone is suspicious. Further, it is now over 2 hours later and Speedway’s website reports no stations anywhere in Ohio higher than $3.799. Speedway says its website uploads prices from stations every 30 minutes, which years of experience tells me is more or less accurate.
So, I think those reports from “jimmyjamz” are either mass data entry errors or intentional vandalism (more likely the latter). His vandalism wasn’t limited to just Speedway. He reported $3.909 for at least 13 stations of other brands between 11:24 this morning and 12:54 this afternoon. His profile ( http://www.toledogasprices.com/Profile.aspx?member=jimmyjamz ) lists “Hobbies: sex.” So, I’m pretty sure this is an unreliable source of information.
Speedway’s website is now listing 3 GasAmerica locations in Ohio, 1 each in Newark, Minster, and Findlay. These stations apparently are not fully integrated yet, because all their prices are “N/A.” Including the 3 GasAmerica’s, Speedway currently lists 461 locations in Ohio.
Back in Michigan, that uncompetitive on DIESEL Speedway raised its regular unleaded gasoline (10% ethanol) price to $3.899 yesterday, but left diesel at $3.899. The station across the street raised its E-10 (“regular” unleaded gasoline) price to $3.899, but left diesel at $3.699. So, it has now been nearly 6 days that this Speedway has had DIESEL for 20¢ higher than its competitor directly across the street. I’m not pointing this out because I am a diesel buyer, but because it is interesting given how lightning fast Speedway is about matching competitors E-10 prices.
On another issue, I wonder if anyone has worked out a BTU comparison for diesel vs. E-10? E-10 has lower energy content than 100% gasoline (E-0), which I believe has lower energy content than diesel (or something where diesel engines get more miles per gallon). Anyway, diesel at $3.699 vs. E-10 at $3.899 is really larger than a 20¢ gap, because the diesel gets you more miles. For example, AAA reports a national average E-85 price of $3.128, which is adjusted to $4.116 for comparison to E-10.
That independent retailer I talked about before raised its E-10 prices yesterday to $3.799 for credit and $3.749 for cash, saving cash customers 15¢ over the competition at $3.899 for both cash and credit.
The 12:37 update put the Chicago spot down 3.4¢ (1.12%) to $2.9976.
Diether:
My heartfelt apologies–you’re right! (I’ve seen stuff like that on the site before, but not to that degree–usually with only one station, like Speedway, where you can get the prices right off the web site. And many times, they are just trying to rack up points–they don’t show massive spikes.
I promise to look closer next time, before I “cry wolf” again!
jimmyjamz has been banned.