What the price of Gas at your Gas station?

[BYU 14]

1.99 in Phoenix at a station near downtown

[Dodgerchick]

$2.29 is the cheapest Ive seen it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

$2.15 today. My daughters give me updates every day since they pass a gas station on the bus. They know that Daddy likes cheaper prices.

[Easy Mac]

$2.05 when I drove by Costco. Have to fill up tomorrow.

[tarcone]

$2.14 today.


Driving to Florida after Christmas. Im hoping it goes below $2

[nilodor]

It's crazy. We have probably the cheapest gas in the country (~89 c/L, which I think is about $3.07 US/gal) and it's still way more than you guys pay. The cost of gas in the US is like it was here in maybe 2001 or something.

[Butter]

Saw $2.15-$2.17 this morning. Rooting for under $2 by the New Year.

[Dodgerchick]

Costco is the best place to get gas.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by nilodor

It's crazy. We have probably the cheapest gas in the country (~89 c/L, which I think is about $3.07 US/gal) and it's still way more than you guys pay. The cost of gas in the US is like it was here in maybe 2001 or something.

Because the governments here tax the shit out of gasoline. Which I'm fine with, for what it's worth. These low gas prices are just going to slow down progress on potential alternatives again.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Because the governments here tax the shit out of gasoline. Which I'm fine with, for what it's worth. These low gas prices are just going to slow down progress on potential alternatives again.

It could well slow down adoption. Any company that decides to stop pursuing alternatives because gas is cheap now is foolish.

The time to pursue the technology is while gas is cheap, because that positions you to make a killing when oil goes back up - you're there, with a product people want, and ready to take their money.

If you only pursue the tech when oil is expensive, what you've done is positioned yourself to spend that money only to have OPEC open the spigots wide by the time you're ready to go to market.

Now, I mean, drilling for oil when the market price per barrel is low, sure. I can see refraining from exploring new leases. But people who are trying to present alternative energy technologies should, if anything, increase their efforts when oil is cheap. If nothing else, proving out the technology then means that they can then pursue efficiencies going forward. They're positioned to sell the product when oil spikes, and they can stay relevant when oil drops, because they've made their batteries (or whatever) more cost-effective.

TL;DR: research when oil is cheap, market when it isn't.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

It could well slow down adoption. Any company that decides to stop pursuing alternatives because gas is cheap now is foolish.

The time to pursue the technology is while gas is cheap, because that positions you to make a killing when oil goes back up - you're there, with a product people want, and ready to take their money.

If you only pursue the tech when oil is expensive, what you've done is positioned yourself to spend that money only to have OPEC open the spigots wide by the time you're ready to go to market.

Now, I mean, drilling for oil when the market price per barrel is low, sure. I can see refraining from exploring new leases. But people who are trying to present alternative energy technologies should, if anything, increase their efforts when oil is cheap. If nothing else, proving out the technology then means that they can then pursue efficiencies going forward. They're positioned to sell the product when oil spikes, and they can stay relevant when oil drops, because they've made their batteries (or whatever) more cost-effective.

TL;DR: research when oil is cheap, market when it isn't.

That all makes logical sense but it doesn't seem to be how this industry has progressed in the past (at least from the eyes of a consumer). It seems that the progressions lag behind the spikes in price and appear to be driven as much by governmental regulations or incentives as they are from anything else. And of course governmental regulations and incentives are driven by demand from the public, aka the consumer, who only really cares when the price goes up.

[rjolley]

Paid $1.67 yesterday at Safeway in Roseville, CA. Gotta love the frequent shopper gas programs.

[timmae]

$2.99 at the local station at Montrose and Cicero here in Chicago. Under $3 in the city is a godsend... going downstate to Peoria tomorrow where it should be around $2.25.

[Desnudo]

1.98 near Fort Worth

[timmae]

So close... $2.27 in Pontiac Il.

[JeeberD]

$1.99 in Lewisville, TX yesterday. My father-in-law in Joplin, MO says they're only paying $1.95...

[MizzouCowboy]

Yep, $1.95 in Joplin. I filled up last week at $2.17 and was damned happy to do it. I imagine Sams Club is even a few cents cheaper.

[JeeberD]

Down to $1.95 in my 'hood last night. Friday is my usual fill-up day, I'm hoping it drops a few more cents by this evening!

[timmae]

fill up day?! I've never heard of such a thing.,.. What day do you set aside for rotating the tires?

[JeeberD]

I'm usually at a half tank, or slightly less, by Friday. I go ahead and fill up then so I don't have to worry about getting low when I'm on my way to work some day. If I have to fill up some other time, I'll certainly do it, but I like the routine I've gotten into recently.

And Tire Rotation Day is the the first Saturday of every fourth month...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

$1.99 today here in KC. Finally got below the magic mark.

[flere-imsaho]

I fill up every Sunday, for the sake of convenience. When you have a car that does 40mpg, you can do that.

:smug:

[Dodgerchick]

We're in TX, shouldn't gas be like a nickel a gallon?

[JeeberD]

Whoa...deja vu!

[stevew]

We're still in the 2.70s here, although I fill up in nearby Ohio for 2.20ish. I'm down like $15 a day in fuel expenses recently vs the summer. Pretty nice.

[Buccaneer]

I'm down to a total of $28 worth of gas month, so paying $1 less per gallon is not that noticeable for me. Now if it stays like this next summer when take my usual west coast trip, that would be awesome.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Down to $1.95 in my 'hood last night. Friday is my usual fill-up day, I'm hoping it drops a few more cents by this evening!

Filling up at $1.91 as we speak!

[Senator]

Just paid 1.99 in northwest Fort Worth about an hour ago.

[dolfin]

Just passed a 1.91 at the Stockyards

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

We're in TX, shouldn't gas be like a nickel a gallon?

Yeah, but it should be offset by the amount you should be paying for water.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Filling up at $1.91 as we speak!

congrats you saved an extra 32 cents.

[stevew]

Something is wrong when Erie and Pittsburgh's markets have the same pricing as greater Los Angeles.

[stevew]

Still at $2.59-2.65 in our market and in much of north west PA.

About 1.95 in Ohio across the line.

[flere-imsaho]

Dropping through the $2.40s here in Maine.

Edit: More relevant for Maine is that home heating oil (which most of the state uses instead of natural gas) is now over a dollar a gallon cheaper than last winter. That is very, very significant.

[vex]

$1.78 as of yesterday.

[Landshark44]

2.23 in NJ....

[Marmel]

Goddammit I hate CT. $2.39 is the cheapest I can find. WTF??

[MizzouRah]

$1.97 here in Troy, Mo

[Dutch]

$2.21 near my house in Tampa.

[Easy Mac]

Filled up for $1.88 today.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

$1.82 today. Love it.

[MizzouRah]

Holy smokes, $1.74 today!

[miami_fan]

$1.99- $0.95 off per Winn-Dixie card discount= $1.04 per gallon!

[Edward64]

About $2.20.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Filled up for $1.88 today.

1.77 at the hotspot in Spartanburg...probably not worth the drive up though.

[JeeberD]

Passed by $1.69 in Denton, TX on Friday. It's the gas station I used to always fill up at when I worked up there and was consistently the best price in the area. It's not worth the drive to get there now, though.

[stevew]

Still 2.57

[SackAttack]

2.05-2.08 here.

[cartman]

Finally dropped below the $2 mark here outside Austin. Starting to hear of slight panic from a lot of folks I know employed in the oil business in Houston.

[QuikSand]

So, I tend to notice weird stuff in this overall scene.

First - it's clear that the optics of putting up a bit $1.xx has a lot of commercial appeal, and that stations are willing to drop what might otherwise be a price of $2.09 or $2.04 or somesuch down to get the BOOM effect of changing the dollar value. No shock there, seeing TONS of $1.99 in this area the last couple of weeks.

Next - I remain fascinated by the pricing differential between the lowest grade and the higher grades of gas. In my area this weekend we saw a spacing of 1.95/2.499/2.69, which is downright staggering to me (closing in on a 30% premium to go from 87 octane to whatever their mid-grade is). That suggests something sneaky going on in price differentiation to me, and I find it really intriguing.

That exact case is at a station that is fairly isolated - and usually has higher prices as a result. I'd guess they fell into the $1.xx trap a bit, decided not to drop their other grades, and found out that it's working out just fine for them. Maybe there's just less price sensitivity in the higher grades? Working theory would be that those who really care about prices get the cheap stuff anyway, so don't worry about charging and extra 5 or 10 cents on the premium stuff.