Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon, but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday.

"There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"

OPIS tracks wholesale and retail oil prices and provides pricing information for AAA's daily reports on fuel prices.

Brockwell said with gasoline prices now exceeding $3 a gallon before even reaching the wholesale level, it "doesn't take a genius" to expect retail prices to hit $4 a gallon soon.

Linky:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/31/news/gas_prices/index.htm

The oil companies have been experiencing record profits. I think it's time they gave back to the people that gave them these profits.

i hope it keeps going up. i hope it hits SUV owners' wallets hard. when SUV sales plummet, maybe consumers and auto makers will finally get a ****ing clue and realize that smaller, more efficient hybrids/alternatives fuel vehicles are desperately needed, not 3 ton, soccer mom, assault tanks.

Wow. I guess I should stop making fun of my husband's new little bubble car (VW Jetta), he'll be getting 44MPG -- and he'll need it! *does doughnuts in her Explorer on Red's lawn!* Luckily for me, work is 11 miles away and school is between work and home. :)

Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon, but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday.

"There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"

OPIS tracks wholesale and retail oil prices and provides pricing information for AAA's daily reports on fuel prices.

Brockwell said with gasoline prices now exceeding $3 a gallon before even reaching the wholesale level, it "doesn't take a genius" to expect retail prices to hit $4 a gallon soon.

Linky:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/31/news/gas_prices/index.htm

Prices in my area have actually dropped back a little.

Prices in my area have actually dropped back a little.Not in my area :|

Will Citgo have cheap gas?

Not in my area :|

We saw little panic buying and no obvious gouging, and once the pipelines opened back up, the prices stabilized and receded a little. People kept their heads very well, I thought.

I want my $1.25 gas back. But if this makes them 'get the lead out' and put more reasonable alternatives out there I'll put up with it for a while.

From us hicks down here in Florida...

Oil Companies Subpeonaed (http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/press/2005/09062005_2.html)

TALLAHASSEE - Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced today that he has issued subpoenas for 19 oil companies that have terminals in Florida in an expanding price gouging investigation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Bronson said the subpoenas for records on what the companies paid for the fuel they purchased and what they sold it for are being issued to determine whether any of the businesses engaged in price gouging or whether they were merely passing on increased costs incurred by them.

“We have received a flood of calls in the last 10 days, and while we’ve been looking at service stations, we need to look at the terminals that supply the fuel to determine whether price gouging activity is occurring at that level,” Bronson said.

Since Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency for Katrina on August 24, Bronson’s toll-free price gouging hotline - 1 800 HELP FLA (435-7352) - has received more than 2,600 calls, including some 1,300 complaints.

What the hell were the other half of the calls for? Wrong numbers?

What the hell were the other half of the calls for? Wrong numbers?LOL....Just wondering the same thing :p

Ya like that? Maybe people thought they were dialing 1-800 spank me and got the price gouging hotline instead?

There always seems to be this doomsday speculation in response to situations like we are experiencing currently. I think its just part of human psychology. Granted we have some work to do and not to make light of the Katrina victims, but the country as a whole is dealing with more of a skinned knee than a broken femur.

Yeah, but that skinned knee is bleeding A LOT, which scares the crap out of us.

Hehe, 1 800 spank me. Hehe. Someone look and find out what other words or phrases can be made out of that number, I'd do it but I have homework to finish right now.

I know its scary but lets try to keep a level head and not let our emotions get the best of us. Think of all the other scary things that have happened in the past 30 years. We'll get through it, there is not need to panic.

Yes there is. I literally, honestly can't drive to as many places as I'd like to because of the cost of gas. I mean, there have already been 2 occasions where I could not go and chill with my friends (who happen to live in Irvine like 70 miles from me) because of the cost of gas. This crisis strikes closer to home than any other in my life. In all honesty, I've felt more effect in my life and choices from big oil/Katrina than I have from 9/11.

With all due respect Rice, just because you have to make some hanging with friends sacrifices it does not indicate that we should be panicing. As Americans we get pretty spoiled but its actually good for us to realize that we can't throw a temper trantrum and get our way again. Sometimes we go through some more difficult times but its also an opportunity for growth.

I know Irvine, its two cities over from me :-) How about your friends come to your or meet in the middle somewhere?

The gas hike isn't just from Katrina...gas is climbing here as well.

The effects of Katrina are felt globally due to International Energy Agency agreements.

http://www.iea.org/

Ours went up weeks before Katrina hit...apparently our reserves our low. Which is a crock of ****...but that's another story.

If the gas prices in Canada work like they do down here its determined by commodity traders who speculate on supply and demand of light sweet crude oil.

What was interesting was that when crude oil went up to $75 a barrel gas prices soared, and then crude oil went back down to $65, but gas prices didn't drop with it, in most places. Not here, anyway.

All in all, I use maybe $10 worth of gas a month and even if it doubles then voila I use $20 a month. I can live with that. It's the soaring prices on groceries and other household goods that is going to be a bit difficult, because of their increased transporation costs.

Like Red, I have to admit it's pretty funny to watch people fill their SUVs and big macho trucks. I watched a woman pay just under $80 to fill up her truck the other day and I like to laughed my ass off.

What was interesting was that when crude oil went up to $75 a barrel gas prices soared, and then crude oil went back down to $65, but gas prices didn't drop with it, in most places. Not here, anyway.

I agree this isn't quite fair since gas stations will charge you for the price to refill their tanks when prices go up but when prices go down they charge for the price of whats in their tanks currently.

In other words LIFO when prices go up but FIFO when prices go down.

That's not how they went up.

Do you think that should work both ways?

That's not how they went up.

Do you think that should work both ways?

:confused:

oil is becoming more precious anyway. we need to seriously explore alternative energy sources....

Well, actually, my point was not that its a crisis because I cannot go hang out with my friends. I am 24 years old, and past the age where I find myself to be the center of the universe.

My point being, if it even affects my life in a rather significant way (and not just because I can't see my friends, I actually scheduled my classes so I only have to drive to school twice a week, I run all of my errands on one day in a linear fashion so I don't have to drive back and forth all over the place, other things) how much must it be affecting the rest of the economy? If its trickled down to me, it means its BAD.

You should be watching for general inflation, because that's next. They are currently debating whether to keep pushing interest rates up (since that also opens the door for inflation) during this upcoming period of recovery.

Gas prices may well end up being the least of your worries.

I could care less about people who have to take less long distance vacations, but it's going to be a bitch for all those minimum wage workers to start paying $10 a gallon for milk for their children.

There are price controls on milk in the US

Really? Can you link me to that information?

I remember paying over $4 a gallon a year or so ago.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib761/aib761.pdf

Interesting.... it's not a cap.... it a pricing system with corporate welfare to dairy farmers to keep the price from getting too low.

LOL

However if it occasionally works as a cap, then it does raise interesting questions about whether the government can also cap gas prices/oil profits and CEO salaries. :hmm:

There was a guy on the radio (I forget what talk show it was) and he broke down what affects gas prices and it was pretty interesting. I googled my butt off, but all I could find on the subject was on howstuffworks.com (love that website!).

Here's a breakdown from that website:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/gas-price-breakdown.gif

Notice that taxes are 31%. Wow. For some reason, I just felt the need to share that. Hah. Also, according to the guest on the talk radio show, you can add more to the actual refining costs due to new laws that refineries have to abide by, clean air acts and such.

I found this funny too, it's like the never ending smack in the face:

Distance from the oil refineries can also affect prices -- stations closer to the Gulf of Mexico, where many oil refineries are located, have lower gas prices due to lower transportation costs.

The fact that gas prices are high, makes them higher because it costs more to transport it. If they get any higher, the impact on the economy is going to be severe!

Oh yeah and gas station owners purchase their gas on credit and they pass the finance charges on to the consumer. Another whammy.

Gee, what fun facts.

(Oh yeah, here's the link to all this information: http://money.howstuffworks.com/gas-price2.htm)

Gee, what fun facts.

(Oh yeah, here's the link to all this information: http://money.howstuffworks.com/gas-price2.htm)

thanks a lot for posting that link--really interesting info.

how do you guys feel about the fact that marketing makes up over 10%? I wonder if that includes costs of controlling all the negative publicity?

Interesting.... it's not a cap.... it a pricing system with corporate welfare to dairy farmers to keep the price from getting too low.

LOL

However if it occasionally works as a cap, then it does raise interesting questions about whether the government can also cap gas prices/oil profits and CEO salaries. :hmm:
The government regulates milk prices here as well. Regulates, not caps.
I wonder how many cows were destroyed in the hurricane...
How much milk do they have in reserves?

The price of everything will increase anyways, as transport costs go up due to the fuel price increase.

Who wants to bet wages don't rise at the same rate?

Who wants to bet wages don't rise at the same rate?I will! I will!

I remember back in 2001 when people said the electricity prices were just supply and demand...

Maybe one day we'll fnd tapes of oil exec's laughing about how they blamed rising gas prices on conditions outside of their control.