So, the price of gas just surged by a dime a gallon

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

almost overnight.

Has anything in the real world happened to justify this? :shrug:

[Gabi Hayes]

1. it's only up 32 cents in the last month in Chicago

http://www.chicagogasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx

[Monkeyman]

7. Cheaper out in the Burbs

[Gabi Hayes]

9. that's the area average

I'm in the burbs, too, and the station I check is up forty cents since January 10

this is for diesel, but it's the lowest prices, and you'll note that they're almost all outside the city, and mostly SW

http://www.chicagogasprices.com/index.aspx?s=Y&fuel=D&area=All%20Areas&station=All%20Stations&tme_limit=36

[Monkeyman]

12. Still at $2.45 75th and Cass

[Gabi Hayes]

14. how far are you from this? could've saved some money!

http://www.chicagogasprices.com/index.aspx

[Monkeyman]

15. A Mile from my house

Thanks need fuel

[Gabi Hayes]

17. any time....save that link. you can customize it for your 'neighborhood'

I use it a lot to find the cheapest place, even if I have to drive a few miles out of the way to get diesel there. it's more of a pain because of the diesel, but it's worth it for just that reason....wider variety of prices, along with much less availability

[notadmblnd]

2. 2.59 again in Michigan

I think this time their excuse is Iran.

[lutefisk]

3. The usual reasons/excuses... plus the Iran war-to-be, of course

"American armada prepares to take on Iran"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/24/wiran24.xml



"Pump prices have been clicking up daily by a penny or two for weeks, increases that can be traced in part to a Feb. 16 fire at a Valero refinery in Texas that caused a ripple effect in California, Arizona and Nevada, Comey said. Gas costs to station owners have jumped by about 50 cents per gallon, and retailers haven't yet passed the full amount on to consumers...

At the same time, production is undergoing a seasonal dip as refineries switch from making winter fuel to less-polluting summer formulas. The refiners often use the changeover to shut down units for routine maintenance. ...

Meanwhile, crude oil traded above $60 Friday, continuing an upward trend linked to concerns over U.S. fuel supplies as well as conflict between Western nations and Iran over its development of nuclear technology."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/24/BUG5LOA9PV1.DTL

[Kagemusha]

5. A refinery fire is a normal reason?

Didn't know it was that common.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Tehre seem to be a couple refinery fires a year, don't there?

[lutefisk]

13. Didn't mean to imply normal- it's one of the regular excuses

It's as if the media has a file of reasons that they trot out each year- refinery fire, reformulation, nervous markets, summer driving season, winter heating season, George W. Bush...

You'd think after all these years the oil companies would have figured out how to keep the supply/markets stable. :sarcasm:

[Kagemusha]

18. I thought that's more in the sense you meant it...

Well, there was indeed a point in asking, then.

I mean, I understand a little about capitalism. I understand that there are fluctuations to be expected unless everyone was eating costs to keep the supply and markets completely stable. But what the market will bear, is largely a matter of the oil companies saying what they think the market will bear, and then giving the excuse why.

But having said that, where would it be legal for the oil companies to keep the markets themselves stable, and why would they find it wise to try, I wonder?

[William769]

4. Feel lucky in the past week ours has gone up 22 cents!

[City Lights]

8. I paid $2.49 yesterday - Chicago's northern suburbs. eom

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. A dime a gallon is noise in the price variation

though the 32 cents in a month mentioned above is more significant. With an estimate of 28 gallons from a barrel of crude (there are some other products, but how much does their price vary?), a dime is equivalent to about $3 per barrel of crude price increase. That's roughly what has happened over a few days.

[leftofthedial]

11. the surge

a surge is a surge

[tulsakatz]

16. $2.17 in Oklahoma

last tuesday I put $5.00 in my car on my way to work, it was $2.04

By the time I left work that day, the price had risen to $2.17 and hasn't changed since.

I was wondering why it went up that much...

[Selatius]

19. Yes, I noticed a 10 cent jump in prices as well. (2.29 here)

It might be due to increased use of heating oil due to all the winter storms. At least, that seems like the most probable justification they would trot out.

[spanone]

20. Noticed that too.

[Initech]

21. I paid $2.73 last night, last week it was $2.49. What the fuck?

:argh: