Ten years ago today, on June 1, 2001, is when I stated my daily monitoring of gas prices and NYMEX prices.  By the end of 2001, I had figured out what I needed in order to start making predictions.  In June 2002, the “gas game” essay was published in the Grand Rapids Press, and on June 12, 2002, I started this blog with my first posting.  So, for the next twelve months, we will be celebrating “10 Years of the Gas Game”.  The gas price in Standale on June 1, 2001?  $1.75 a gallon. — Ed Aboufadel

When Patrick joined up with me a few years ago, The Gas Game was just a hobby of mine.  Some of you may recall my article in the Grand Rapids Press in 2002, along with my web site at gvsu.edu, as examples of this hobby.  With Patrick’s hard work, thegasgame.com became something special, with a great logo; RSS, reader comments and other tools to expand access; and several other obvious and hidden enhancements that have increased the visibility of this site.  Thank you, Patrick, for all the work you’ve done on this site.

Patrick and I have gone through a lot with this site the past few years.  The explosion of gas prices from below $2 to $4.25 brought us a lot of attention, and the dizzying drop this past year back below $1.50 has been amazing, too.  Due to all the news about gas prices the past few years, the site has been noted in media from Chicago to Washington, DC.

I don’t want to make it sound like we’re done now.  I will continue to post regularly to the site, making my comments and predictions about gas prices and possible hikes.  But with Patrick moving to Gas Buddy, postings on this site will be less frequent, and, as you may have noticed, I tend to focus on connecting the price of the futures to retail prices and pay less attention to refinery issues and Speedway rewards programs.  My quiet study of diesel continues, and I expect to have something intelligent to say about diesel pricing before the end of the year.  And, perhaps I’ll get another featured writer for the site.

Ed

A few years ago, I contacted GasBuddy about putting some charts, graphs, and other information on the site and was allowed to do so with their blessing. My interest evolved and I started the blog here with Ed thanks to GasBuddy. Time has gone by and prices have become even more unstable it seems.

This past fall and winter, the folks at GasBuddy contacted me to see if we couldn’t pool our thoughts, ideas, and passion- to help consumers find low prices and to help them understand the fluctuations in prices. As a result of those conversations, I was offered a position at GasBuddy, an offer I accepted. Beginning yesterday I am now the Lead Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy. I am working on doing much of what I did here at TheGasGame at GasBuddy.

We’ve started some new avenues to get information out fast, such as the GasBuddy Twitter Account (follow our updates!) and a Facebook presence. These are tools in fighting gas prices and SAVING MONEY! I’d rather save it and spend it on something a bit more enjoyable than pumping gasoline!

I will no longer be actively posting here, but Ed will remain here and he may have some announcements to make. TheGasGame.com will remain the same, but I will be posting on a larger scale for GasBuddy.

I’ll be sure to give more information or links when I start actively blogging with GasBuddy, but for now, check out those links. I wanted to thank every reader and fan for reading. I’ve been given a great opportunity to help even more people understand gas prices and to try and save money. Let’s do it!

Patrick

While I’m away, you can continue to count on posts every so often as needed, but several items will not be updated, such as “Today in Oil” and “Refinery Status”. I’m not sure if I’ll be gone for a few days or a week or two.

The time taken away from TheGasGame will allow me time to concentrate on opporunities that have arisen to me in the last couple months. I’ll definitely do my best to let everyone know what’s going on- so stay tuned here.

For now, I’m sure Ed will keep posting when needed. I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read our thoughts.

Patrick

Just wanted to let our faithful readers know that in addition to starting to use Twitter, I also started a new page on TheGasGame.com. “Today in Oil” will be updated every evening with current gasoline and oil spot prices, as well as news and comments from yours truly. It will be updated every weekday (hopefully I won’t miss too many), but for those who like to see data on gas and oil markets, have at it.

I also wanted to thank everyone who visits daily, and for those who don’t, maybe you can come by a bit more often. Please feel free to sign up to receive our feed via e-mail as well (click the “Subscribe Free” button). You can also send anyone our posts via e-mail. Every post has a “Send” button on the bottom for ease. We just passed our 400,000 visitor and wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who reads our site. Without you, we wouldn’t have many of the opportunities we’ve had so far.

Patrick

About the ETF, from Yahoo:  "The investment seeks to track, net of expenses, the changes in percentage terms of the [wholesale] price of gasoline."  In two weeks, wholesale prices have gone from $1.13 to $1.00, and the ETF has gone from $22 to $19.  So, if I think we are going to see $2 retail, I could buy UGA or UGA calls to put my money where my mouth is.  If $1 retail is in the cards, then sell short UGA or buy UGA puts.  Disclaimer:  option and stock trading carries risks, you can lose all your investment, etc…

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Don’t worry though, gas prices should hold relatively steady this weekend.

Some computers/Internet Service Providers will be able to get through to the site as early as Saturday afternoon. It all depends on your ISP and how fast they will read the changes off the Internet Registrar.

Hopefully it will be fast and painless, but we’ll find out!

Thanks for stopping by. If we’ve helped you, please comment on this post and feel free to leave a testimonial. We may use it later down the road.

Patrick and Ed