Comment on the July 26 posting: Wasn’t really a prediction, and prices rose on July 29 and 30th to what I feared.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014, 3:30PM: With financial markets showing weakness, energy prices are starting to slip, too, and we are in no danger of a price hike this week. That’s a prediction. But, for a little added value, here’s a recent interview with Gregg Laskoski of GasBuddy, giving a good explanation for the gas price action we see in the Midwest. — Ed A.
It was a clear explanation of what is happening, something that any motorist living in the affected areas should have figured out long ago. Unfortunately it did not touch the part about why it happens…
There was also a good opportunity to bring attention to zone pricing that seems to be a lot more pervasive than in the past. This issue was not discussed much other than a mention of places having super low prices during the low due to “distribution and other costs”.
Good listen overall.
Hmmmmmmmmm – interesting!!!
The southeast, much of the Midwest and Great Lakes, and even the Rockies will benefit most, Kloza predicted, with gas prices set at $3 per gallon or less for unleaded regular.
http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post–gas-could-soon-drop-to-dollar3-a-gallon
Maybe. Spot prices soared over 13 cents today on lowered supplies and refinery issues according to Murphy Oil report.
Looks like Speedway is going to spit in our faces. Up to $3.55 today on the NW Side of Indy. Yesterdays high was under $3.40.
Spit in our faces?
Yeah, so much for not going up…Greedway going to 3.65 in Kalamazoo area right now…
EPIC FAIL ON THAT CALL MY FRIEND!
When spot prices jump up 13 cents in one day, it does not surprise me that we are spiking.
Speedway spiking to $3.55 in South Bend, IN now.
Speedway was ~$3.45 while others are as low as mid $3.30s.
Let’s hope this prediction is wrong!
Detroit Pre-Hike Average 3.39
Price Hike Alert Projected Average 3.65 +/- 0.10
Cue in wildlife funny comments in 3.. 2.. 1..
Further prediction… One more set of “problems” next week and back to 3.79-3.89… With crude at 96-97 we keep gasoline prices high due to wildlife / refinery issues until another “geopolitical crisis” enables crude to go above 100-102 again… Rinse, lather, repeat.
About as predictable as Pro Wrestling.
What’s funny is how quiet you are when prices show a steep downward trend for two straight months, and the local average is below the national average for six consecutive weeks. And then you finally say things as soon as there is a minor correction, claiming that it’s business as usual.
Yuuuuuuuup the squirrels are running wild at Whiting. Muncie gas up .30 a gallon today. “Refinery issues”… you called it Turbo!
Yep, hit it right on the head Turbo..I think the only think worse are the people in office that can do something about it, just look the other way…hummm wonder why?
I agree with you, Turbo. It seems Ren is somewhat pugnacious by nature.
Chicago Spot up over $.13 yesterday and over $.12 today. If Cincinnati had a GREEDway overreach spike last week of $3.65 on what the spot did I can only imaging we will really bend over for a $3.79 spike this week.
I’m too kind hearted to go back and see if Ren made any horrified remarks during the extended times that we were paying the squirrel premium for months at a time…
This sort of reminds me of the PIGS, the Pipeline Inspection Gauge System. Essentially a pig shaped and sized robot that would go and look for leaks in pipelines.
Someone noticed the PIGS were real smart, finding leaks just when needed to spike prices up but never when prices were high.
Maybe a robotic squirrel? Drone pigeon?
Did somebody talk steady or falling prices at the beginning of the week? Seems to me there were a couple links above that included people saying as much.
What may be a steep downward trend to you is gasoline prices falling like a feather after rising like a rocket to me. In this climate we will always be at the mercy of a squirrel, a refinery worker dropping a wrench, a leak in a pipeline, a tropical storm or a third rate leader in the Middle East fighting a revolution.
We’ve been lucky but get a couple of these things brewing and we will go from $3.30 to $3.80 in just a few days, maybe even by this weekend for some. It never used to be this way.
Can’t we just get along with Speedway? My answer, NOPE.
WRONG. Can’t I go on vacation for a few days without something screwy going on? Wholesale prices up 20 cents in the last 48 hours. Grrr …
Wholesale up 20 cents = Speedway going up 40 cents.
What really happens is that speculation has taken over common sense. Conflict in XXXX country? Prices up regardless of XXXX producing no oil. Refinery worker trips over power cord? Prices up. 2 inches of rain? Prices up.
The whole point of options, futures, and the commodity markets was to insulate consumers from such wild swings. In the energy field specifically it has been the exact opposite for years.
Even worse, when supply decreases locally there is enough supply elsewhere to cover the decrease but whether it actually happens is a different story. When southern gasoline supposedly started flowing north and brought prices down finally, one had to wonder why it did not happen earlier or why the supply network is not always flexible.
I was buying gasoline 30 years ago in Michigan and it was not common to see such swings in prices. At the crude level sure, but the refining and distribution process smoothed prices. Then refineries started closing at an alarming rate (read Senator Wyden’s report) and consolidation got us to where we are today 20 years ago.
The CFMA of 2000 is to blame, IMO. That’s what has enabled Goldman Sachs to be the top holder of crude futures. Them and another “bank”(can’t remember which one), combined, hold over half of the futures contracts. I would imagine they’re pretty big players in the refined products futures as well.
Gas is up 20 cents at the Kroger station today. It was 3.39 yesterday and today its 3.59. Thankfully, gasbuddy.com gave us a warning it was coming.
On the upside North Dakota oil production surpassed 1 Million barrels per day. Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/04/north-dakota-oil-production-surpassed-1-million-barrels-per-day/#ixzz39pG8lldR
Speedway has no qualms about Saturday hikes as we found out during the winter. Just a thought for those who seem to have been “missed” this week.
CFMA did us in at the crude level and in my view was instrumental in the financial crisis.
But the energy world learned very fast and now they play refining and distribution and retail games instead of crude games…
Cincy/Dayton Speedways resetting to $3.599 this morning.
WOW….5½ weeks below the national average. That really makes up for the 37+ previous weeks we were so much higher than the national average. I guess it was time the squirrel came back.
In Cincy we didn’t even get THREE weeks below the national average. (7/12-7/31). Since then we’ve been above.
The Saturday spike in Cincinnati is being met with much resistance so far. There are some pockets around Hamilton County that reset to the $3.59 memo price but thus far they are in the minority.
The only West Side stations reasonably close to me that have spiked so far is the GREEDway in the Monfort Heights part of town and the two nearby Shell stations who follow in lock-step what GREEDway does. Most of the other stations are around $3.41-$3.43.