Dropping like a rock!...Coincidence??

[Brian C.]

What's dropping you ask???

Why gas prices, of course.

A few facts first. I'm in South Florida, recently visited by Hurricane Wilma, and for 4-5 days post-storm, gas was very difficult to come by. Not that it wasn't here, we just didn't have any electricity to pump it out of the tanks. So for a short time there were long lines at the few stations that had power to pump....definitely a seller's market. But now, as it's been a week since Wilma left town, more and more power is being restored, and life is getting a bit easier.....though for some it's still pretty miserable.

Now here's the funny part.

What was it....Friday, Saturday....the announcement that some "Major Oil Companies" had announced a $9.9 billion QUARTERLY profit while we (yes, yes, spoiled Americans) were paying at least 3 bucks a gallon? Hhmmmm....so tonight I'm heading home, half full of pre-storm petrol, still in my tank and I see an almost empty station. I pull in and see that it's open so I go to fill up. I'm guessing that most everyone else in town has already filled up in the past 3 days so no one is ready for more just yet. Now I see that regular (gotta love that PT Cruiser) is going for $2.49/gal!!! Holy Price War Batman! That's the least I've paid for gas in 10 months. Maybe a little consumer backlash for that quarterly announcement? Maybe an over supply in a "flooded" market? Funny how economics works, huh. I wonder how long it will last.

Brian C.
ps.....Have I ever mentioned that dial-up bites the big one?

[Kalevera]

Brian -- You know what the saddest part of all of this is?

We're happy to be paying 2.49/gallon.

In may, I was sick to see it at 2.25 for regular. Now that's "reasonable"

F'in ponderous, man. F'in.

And I think it will last until demand starts kicking back in. They said it responded a bit to $3/gallon prices for gas, so...give it a month, we'll be paying $3/gal again any time soon.

best, whit

[Brian C.]

....that consumers really DO have some control over what a market will allow. At least in this small example, as I recall from a rather hazy time in ECON101, when the demand for something drops, the price should fall due to the seller's over-supply, and their desire to sell it at the price the market will allow at that point.

If only "we"....consumers....could actually join together and kill the demand for gas for maybe just a day or two every month. A 5-7% drop in demand would have the oil companies drowning in the stuff, and maybe prices would adjust accordingly. Of course it would only work if there was a solid consumer committment, but then the Bushes would just crank up their Haliburton war machine and we'd invade Brazil and claim that it was all Hillary's fault and THEN where would we be???

Sorry.

I digressed a bit. I'm a bit loopy from lack of sleep.

Brian C.

[632 Regal]

2.34 for 93 octane here today...there were so many people filling up I passed go and will hit it tomorrow. I thought there was a mistake til I saw the next station at around the same price....cool beans I say!

[winfred]

i just paid 2.619 for 93* diesel is still 2.999 and that blows, the last fill up in the truck was $88.50 i will be building a biodiesel reactor to hopefully cut that by 2/3 or more

[632 Regal]

time to get some friends at the local diners!

i just paid 2.619 for 93* diesel is still 2.999 and that blows, the last fill up in the truck was $88.50 i will be building a biodiesel reactor to hopefully cut that by 2/3 or more

[uscharalph]

It's dropped a little here, but not that much.