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Pain At The Pump: $4 A Gallon Soon?
April 18, 2011
Gas is already over $4 a gallon in five states, while locally the pain at the pump continues to worsen.
Pump prices in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii and Illinois are already over the four buck mark, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge, with Hawaii at $4.47 per gallon. The highest-ever average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Escambia County was $4.05 in July of 2008. Nationally, gas topped out a $4.11 per gallon before the economy went south.
The average price of a gallon of standard-grade gasoline in Escambia County was $3.78 on Sunday — slightly better than the statewide average of $3.83. That’s an increase of a quarter per a gallon from the month-ago price of $3.53, according to the daily price survey published by AAA. The same gallon of gas was $2.88 last year.
We asked our NorthEscambia.com Facebook friends what higher gas prices mean for them. Here are some of the responses:
“It means we are out of business,” said Donna Morris Bell of Flomaton of her logging pulpwood operation. “The profit margin was so thin that we were barely hanging on. When fuel prices started rising again, it pushed us over the edge. We shut the operation down and are now unemployed, as are all the people who worked for us.”
“High gas prices mean staying at home a lot more,” said Teresa Andress of Molino.
“That means we stay broke; no more putting the pocket change…on your dresser each night after a hard days work,” said Jessica Griffis of Flomaton.
For others, like Nicole Davis of Century, the high price at the pump means cutting expenses and luxuries just to afford gas to get to work.
But higher gas prices are a bit good news for Kim Salter of Brewton. “It means job security for my husband who is a production foreman offshore,” she said. “It also means more in our retirement plan because we have stock in the oil company.”
To join in this and other future discussion on our Facebook page, click here to become a NorthEscambia.com Facebook friend.
Comments
15 Responses to “Pain At The Pump: $4 A Gallon Soon?”
REGARDING:
“He who has the product sets the prices, after all. ”
Yet farmers don’t set the prices for what they sell because other farmers also have it and want to sell it. As long as the supply is greater than the demand, the buyer has a say in things. If the price gets too high, the buyer finds alternative products. As long as the price is lower than the alternatives, the buyer tends to stick with the cheaper product. It doesn’t matter if it is peanuts or petroleum or cola.
More than one person has petroleum to sell and demand fluctuates so prices vary. Even so, petroleum being a finite product, it will be closer to depletion with every drop sold. We just don’t know the total number of drops.
Even those who talk about how little is to be found in the USA sometimes forget part of that is that production from other countries was easier and cheaper in times gone by and probably still is. For example, we know there is evidence of a large natural gas field offshore Florida but people don’t want to produce it for aesthetic reasons and confusion between natural gas and petroleum. Natural gas varies and may produce condensate such as makes gasoline. We won’t know because we won’t produce it.
David just thinking
not really concerned
too broke to worry
SW said….”After all, gas has only risen $3 on his watch.”
I said….is that $3 a barrel (not too bad) or $3 a gallon, which would mean we were paying $.75 or $.80 cents a gallon when Obama took office (quite a hike).
Other than that, I agree with what both you and David (and others) are saying here. We have know for decades this was coming and we have done little to prepare for it. We could be much closer to independence than we are and we could be leading the world in alternative energy development.
If gas did drop back down to say, $3 a gallon, we would forget all about this until the next rise, while paying lip service to long term energy needs. Demos and Republicans simply point the finger at one another while doing nothing to work the issue out.
I am still hopeful for our nation though. I want to see how our newbies in Congress react when they start really seeing the money flow in to their coffers from all the special interests.
We should be exploring and researching for efficient and effective alternative fuels. Until then, we are oil-based.
Let’s don’t hold responsible those who won’t allow drilling, building of refineries, or otherwise cause our reliance on foreign oil. He who has the product sets the prices, after all. Granted, we can’t conserve our way to independence; we can ease the personal pain to a degree; but that’s treating the symptom, not the disease.
Florida has no significant oil (the Jay field has all but played out), no pipelines, and no refining capability. All fuel in Florida comes in by water or by truck; both of which uses fuel.
Remember that oil just doesn’t make fuel, too. David mentioned part of it, but there’s more-pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. These fuel prices won’t just hit us as the pump directly, they’ll hit us all as consumers of many items; most of which involve fuel to get it here and oil to produce.
There’s absolutely no reasonable excuse for these high fuel prices. The US should be energy independent.
We should get our politicians on the ball to allow the free market to take over and bring us back to where we should be. If they don’t, and if they don’t fix this economy, the dollar may not continue to be the basis for oil purchasing. If you think the price is high now, wait until the currency used is the mark, ruble, or some formerly inferior form of currency. The conversion will be crippling.
By the way, the last time this happened, everyone was all to happy to blame President Bush; I don’t hear anyone holding President Obama’s feet to the fire on this. After all, gas has only risen $3 on his watch.
You can thank our government for over-printing money and the speculators for capitalizing on it! Double dip recession is coming…get ready for it!
there is a direct correlation between fuel prices and the presidents approval rating. this price hike is by design and completly enginered by the US Government! when the president is popular the prices are down, when he is not so popular and under pressure from America the prices seem to magicly rise. If we all lie and say he is doing a good job the prices will come back down.
gas prices stink!!! Gotta stay home a lot more. Its bad enough my fiancee and I are getting married and have to cut costs in there too.
Upside its nice to see my name is on here :<) Thanks North Escambia!
Commodities traders are lining their pockets with million dollar profit days while babies want for milk priced out of sight because delivery fuel has skyrocketed.
These prices are a result of pure greed on a part of the few at the expense of the many.
It’s legal robbery, pure and simple.
REGARDING:
“The US currently uses approximately 25% of the global oil production. China is increasing their demand, as well as India… and pretty much everyone else. – - – All would do well to minimize the quantity of energy needed to get by…”
Part of how we use our part of the global oil production is to import petroleum, refine it into things like gasoline, kerosene (also known as jet fuel), diesel and petrochemicals from which to make plastics and pave roads and then sell them to those other countries which are not “using” oil. They actually are, just through us and through their purchases of our products.
It’s not like we just take in petroleum and throw it away. We buy it, improve it’s usefulness and sell it–as well as use it ourselves. That helps us and other countries.
While it’s good to talk about conserving energy and good to do it, that only reduces the growth of the energy demand. The solution which does not continue to leave most of the world in the dark is to expand our sources of energy.
We need nuclear power, solar power, geothermal power, wind power. We need better ways to access those sources of power and better ways to deliver them to where they are needed and safer, more reliable ways to use them. We need to up our production of natural gas and its uses for the immediate future. We need better energy storage systems for things like electric cars with reasonable ranges or saving solar power’s energy for use at night or wind power’s energy for use when the wind isn’t blowing.
There’s lots of opportunities for improvements.
David for nuclear bicycles
The prices will likely continue to rise, and while the middle east instability is an obvious factor, the real story is much more complicated.
The US currently uses approximately 25% of the global oil production. China is increasing their demand, as well as India… and pretty much everyone else.
The ‘drill here.. drill now’ political slogans are not going to fix this, we only produce approximately %3 of the global oil… even if we doubled production we can not come close to meeting our own needs.
The US dollar is the standard currency oil is traded on in the global market… and the US dollar has lost value. As a FIAT (faith based) currency we have eroded faith in our dollar though irresponsible debt, and unsustainable strategies…. we are effectively printing money to pay our debt… and the world market knows it.
Things are going to change, and already have changed… we would do well to adjust to these changes… the government is not going to fix this… the government missed that opportunity long ago and is now actively contributing to making the problem worse.
All would do well to minimize the quantity of energy needed to get by…
I just spent 10 days in Chicago where regular gas was over 4.00 a gallon.And in my recent trip to Colorado,after I got out of Mississippi,regular gas was 4.00 a gallon. Some people will eventually realize that as inconvenint as carpooling is,(sorta like not being in control of where you go after work going to be the best alternative to saving money at the pump. Everywhere you look you see one person in every car.This will have to change if we are to realize any extra money at all at the end of the month.
We shouldn’t be surprised, and the fact we are the largest consumer is finally catching up to us. As to oil, most current sites are past their prime and some are falling in production levels. New locations have oil deposits in places that will be more costly to extract, and some will pollute even greater in the extraction process than what we do with current oil sites. We’ve rode this technology hard and for the last 30 years done very little to even try to cut consumption or find viable alternatives.
everything is gradually going up in price…gas, groceries, clothes, etc… and our income is not being adjusted for cost of living. in fact, there have been no raises at all in this household in 5 years!!! we, who were already struggling to get the power bill paid before late charges are added are taking hit after hit from everywhere! i don’t know what we are going to do if things continue this way.
Mr. Brown is totally right, he is not making this up. The true prediction for 2012 has been $5.00 a gallon for some time now.
How are counties paying to bus the kids to school? And why haven’t we heard anything on the news from the truckers? years ago you would have heard something from the truckers because of the high prices.
It seems that we (the United States) consumers are finally catching up with the rest of the world. Yes, gasoline is very expensive. When I was in the Air Force and stationed in Italy in 1992 — the cost of gasoline was already close to $4.00 a gallon.
We have been spoiled by our lifestyle and we will have to make adjustments and deal with the circumstances.
Just wait until gas hits $5.00 a gallon — prediction for 2012 prices !!!