Have gas prices affected your driving?

gp001 said:
The Saudis are the ones who caused the prices to JUMP. They have no need for us anymore. We did the dirty work and now we will pay at the pump. That's how countries show us their gratitude.

:bs: I always thought it had to do with supply and demand, thats how I heard it from a former oil exec anyway and the last graph I saw in the newspaper several months ago showed a South American country as our biggest supplier and I recall there being issues with that countries supply causing part of the increas in prices. either way if that is the case, or if it is Iran as stated in another post above then what say do the Saudis have?
I'm not saying that the war has no effect on the cost, I'm sure it does but I'm also sure alot of that effect is a result of the misconceptions everybody seems to have about oil. :nonono:
I recently learned Canada has one of the largest (if not largest) known oil reserves in the world, they extract it from sand using hot water, folks are hoping to cash in on a more efficient method.
 
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ylw6ixyt6 said:
:bs: I always thought it had to do with supply and demand, thats how I heard it from a former oil exec anyway and the last graph I saw in the newspaper several months ago showed a South American country as our biggest supplier and I recall there being issues with that countries supply causing part of the increas in prices. either way if that is the case, or if it is Iran as stated in another post above then what say do the Saudis have?
I'm not saying that the war has no effect on the cost, I'm sure it does but I'm also sure alot of that effect is a result of the misconceptions everybody seems to have about oil. :nonono:
I recently learned Canada has one of the largest (if not largest) known oil reserves in the world, they extract it from sand using hot water, folks are hoping to cash in on a more efficient method.

Before you fly the BS flag you might want to nail down some facts. Here are a couple links to articles relating to the current production cut. The Saudis are one of the most powerful cartels in OPEC.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,116124,00.html

Saudi Arabia led the push to carry out the latest OPEC production cut, while fellow cartel members Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates sought to delay a lower output quota.

http://www.intertanko.com/tankernews/artikkel.asp?id=7194

Financial Times reports that oil prices will be driven increasingly by the needs of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and the most influential member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, analysts said after yesterday's Opec production cut. Facing a domestic struggle against suspected al-Qaeda militants and with little economic growth outside the oil sector, Saudi Arabia is increasingly reliant on high oil revenues to maintain domestic stability.

These are the crude oil production numbers from OPEC, it might shed some light on why they can sway the OPEC member countries votes

Saudi Arabia 7.1 million barrels per day
Iran 3.2
Venezuela 2.4
Iraq 2.1
 
Edbert said:
EDIT: Add to that the fact that I paid $1.25/gal of regular (leaded for you young'uns) while I was in high screwel (1981)

Gee, I feel old (actually I am old)! I remember shopping around for premium gas at 25-28 cents/gallon when I had my 1st Mustang.

As to the question, no, my driving habits haven't changed, you only live once. A day of not driving the Stang is a day gone and wasted.
 
gp001 said:
Before you fly the BS flag you might want to nail down some facts. Here are a couple links to articles relating to the current production cut. The Saudis are one of the most powerful cartels in OPEC.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,116124,00.html



http://www.intertanko.com/tankernews/artikkel.asp?id=7194



These are the crude oil production numbers from OPEC, it might shed some light on why they can sway the OPEC member countries votes

Saudi Arabia 7.1 million barrels per day
Iran 3.2
Venezuela 2.4
Iraq 2.1


Thanks for posting those production facts and OPEC info. Its a complicated issue and wanted to get a little closer to what causes changing prices at the station on the corner. more helpful facts would be recent numbers on US oil imports and domestic production, how much of what we are importing comes from what country and at what price per barrel. The chart I referred to showed that kind of information, wish I had kept it.

In preparing for a trip to Moab for the Rod Bender Car Show I purchased gas the morning of my departure and debated filling up then or waiting till after work when I'd be ready to leave. put $5 in and decided to wait, the price jumped from $1.81 to $1.93 :mad:. Does anyone else grumble every time they fill up now? The other day this guy next to me at the gas station got all bent out of shape, was just swearing up a storm about the prices while he pumped his gas.
 
Yes, it has a affected me ALOT. The war in IRaq hasn't helped things (I'm not saying I am against it, but I'm not going to argue politics with people I like cause we'll end up hating each other.) It has affected my unit: we're out of money for fuel for our birds - and I am missing some pay due to it.

However, economically speaking, if OPEC wants to have the monopoly on energy continue they're going to have to increase production soon, if they don't the difference between the costs of further developing things like hydrogen fuel cell cars is going to be so comparatively cheap that oil as an energy source will begin its funeral procession.
 
skywalker said:
It has affected my unit: we're out of money for fuel for our birds - and I am missing some pay due to it.

That's not supposed to happen. :shrug:

skywalker said:
However, economically speaking, if OPEC wants to have the monopoly on energy continue they're going to have to increase production soon, if they don't the difference between the costs of further developing things like hydrogen fuel cell cars is going to be so comparatively cheap that oil as an energy source will begin its funeral procession.

If that happened I wouldn't cry. We really need to get away from our dependence on oil. Austin, TX wants to become the center for alternative/renewable energy technology. I hope they can pull it off, and show us all how to get off the power grid. I'm all for the development of solar power technology. :nice:
 
jikelly said:
We really need to get away from our dependence on oil.

Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen. OPEC doesn't like competition. If you want to do some interesting reading (X-Files type stuff) about an engine that would have done just what you want, do a search on "Rory Johnson Magnatron". My uncle (Rory Johnson) had developed a motor (Magnatron) that would have cut our dependance on petroleum. Keep in mind as you read the quote below that his death came shortly after he refused to sell his design to OPEC.

In the late 70's a brilliant inventor, Rory Johnson of Elgin Illinois, invented a cold fusion, laser activated, magnetic motor that produced 525 HP, weighed 475 lbs, and would propel a large truck or bus 100,000 miles on about 2 lbs of deuterium and gallium. This was years before Pons $\& Flieschman or Dr. James Patterson entered the scene with their cold fusion technology. Rory Johnson was in the process of negotiation with the Greyhound Bus Company to install this revolutionary motor into a few buses to demonstrate the fuel savings, maintenance reduction, and hence a more profitable balance sheet for Greyhound.

The mistake Rory Johnson made (little did he know that OPEC was keeping close track of any future competition to their oil business and that he was number one on the hit list) was to actively publicize hi advanced fusion-magnetic motor in many magazines, telling of his plans to manufacture and distribute this revolutionary motor nationwide. ( I have even talked to a few people who had signed up for a distributorship). Coincidentally, after agents of Greyhound tried to get in touch with Rory Johnson after a year of no contact, they were notified that Rory had passed away unexpectedly. A man of robust health in his early fifties dying?! It was later learned that for some threatening reason, Rory moved out of his laboratory unexpectedly in the middle of the night with all his motors and technology and moved to California before he died.

Another astounding development that surfaced was a restraining order, or gag order, by the U.S. Energy Department had been placed on Rory's Company, Magnatron, Inc., prohibiting him from producing the Magnatron engine. See Appendix 1 - a letter from Minnesota State Senator Marion Manning to U.S. Senator from Minnesota Dave Donenberger inquiring as to why our government would place such a gag order on Mr. Johnson. Isn't this the land of the free market economy? Apparently not. Something seems a little strange about this whole incident. Are the oil cartels dictating energy policy to the U.S. Government?
 
I have heard of this magnatron engine before but I thought it was just a rumor, or a hoax. There are a number of stories out about inventions intended to make autos more efficient that were bought by big oil companies or the government. It makes you wonder about what is really going on.
 
dolfan87 said:
My question is this;

Why is gas in Texas $1.95 when it is $2.49 here in Arizona? I know it's even more expensive in California. So why do we pay 50 cents more per gallon?

87

Several reasons. #1 State and local taxes. Here in Georgia and likewise in Texas they are VERY low. #2 Miscellaneous blends. States with high pollution get different, more boutique blends of gas. Arizona happens to be one such state IIRC.