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Since the cost of a barrel of oil jumped $11 on Friday, helping the stock market drop 400 points, gas stations in the area made sure to raise their prices, too. The Post reports that many stations were charging $4.50/gallon or more!
While the AAA says national average for gas has gone over $4/gallon for the first time this weekend, many gas stations in the area have been near or above that for a few weeks. One frustrated driver, a Bronx restaurant owner, spent $120 to fill up his Chevrolet Avalanche truck at the Gulf station at East 23rd and FDR. Tony Robertson told the Post, "I used to drive with the air conditioning on, but now I have to leave it off. It's hurting." He added his restaurant was also hurt by the recent economic woes, noting that his customers are coming in less, if at all.
A Brooklyn driver said he was going to put his car away, "Now it's like, you get your necessities and you go home. No more weekend trips." That's a good idea, since gas may rise to $5/gallon by July 4th. Of course, the reason why gas prices are so high isn't because of inventory--there's actually a lot of crude oil, but with the frenzy, there's a lot of speculation.
Photograph, taken in mid-May, by Pay Paul (The Leader of the WW Tribe) on Flickr
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Consumers are getting raped while Bush and the Oil Companies laugh all the way to the bank.
Sorry, no sympathy for that driver. If he wanted so badly to buy a giant pickup truck, he has to suffer the consequences.
Americans are so damn spoiled. When blogs reported on the Japanese phenomenon of kuruma banare (their young people are turning away from cars), American nitwits started commenting about how small that country is compared to the US and how dumb the Japs are with their rice burners, how high their suicide rates are and how we should drop another bomb on them. Yeah, like you go on long road trips every other day. Sure as hell not with these gas prices. The Japanese youths can and do rent cars for long trips, but they're smart enough not to buy into this "car ownership as status symbol" garbage anymore, or to live 80 miles from work.
Its not so difficult comparing Japan & the US when it comes to car use. The US has a car culture like no other that is immortalized by film and the auto industry and is buoyed by cheap gas. The Japanese? not so much. It helps not having access to such an abundant supply of natural resources as we do here. They think along the lines of efficiency due to the cost of energy. We've been riding the wave of cheap gas for so long we've become complacent and glutenous and now the reality is starting to sink in. Our way of life is unsustainable, and changes will need to be made, whether people like it or not.
For the Japanese, having one of the world's most efficient and far reaching transportation systems gives them a very good reason to shun the car. Their population is also far more centralized than in the US making the train a much better option.
People should know when they keep the windows rolled down all the way they actually lose miles per gallon.
It's too bad our government could care less about the high fuel prices.
US = too much sprawl.
we should go mad max on 90% of the country and force everyone to live in cities. if we're lucky, putin will bomb the sh*t out of us.
^He already is "bombing the shit out of us". That Lukoil gas station pictured is owned by the Russians.
$6 a gallon gasoline by end of August.
Stop bitchin and make some money on this... buy Oil ETFs. Super easy and helps to hedge the pain a bit.
PowerShares DB Oil (DBO)
or
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=uso
One frustrated driver, a Bronx restaurant owner, spent $120 to fill up his Chevrolet Avalanche truck at the Gulf station at East 23rd and FDR.
Cry me a river. Trade it in and get a hybrid, a gas efficient car or buy a motorcycle. I have no sympathy for people driving trucks or v8/v12's.
Air conditioning uses up less gas than driving with the windows open.
Our way of life is unsustainable, and changes will need to be made, whether people like it or not.
Are you kidding? Let me paraphrase the prevailing, uh, wisdom: "This is America, and we don't have to effin' change if we don't want to!" e.g. metric system.
we should go mad max on 90% of the country and force everyone to live in cities. if we're lucky, putin will bomb the sh*t out of us.
Uh, nukes have always been targeted at population centers, i.e. cities. NYC would be one of the first to go. It's the countryside that would be relatively safe.
Start drilling everywhere in the USA or in 5 years you will be having stories of some large truck driver complaining about spending $240 to fill his tank.
We can't all live in cities. Where would you get your tax money to pay for your bus and subway rides?
"We can't all live in cities. Where would you get your tax money to pay for your bus and subway rides?"
Thats funny considering the State of New York has been sucking the lifeblood (and the tax money) from the City of New York. We're pretty much subsidizing the rest of the state....Although I'm sure there are some cases where the opposite holds true.
"This is America, and we don't have to effin' change if we don't want to!"
When oil hits $250+ a barrel, lets see who will continue with that line. Oil Shocks bring change. It happened in the 1970's and it is happening again.
Higher Baby.
I can't wait.
"Of course, the reason why gas prices are so high isn't because of inventory--there's actually a lot of crude oil, but with the frenzy, there's a lot of speculation."
And good old fashioned overseas demand from China. Just wait till the India's middle class kicks into full gear. After that, there's Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia...
In other words the romance of "getting your kicks on Route 66" is over, waaaay over. Bring back the Sunset Limited.
#8:
Isn't oil a commodity?
You have to buy futures on the commodity market, it's not like a stock share. You buy at a certain price now and hope the price goes up when you sell later. You buy it by the barrel but you probably have to buy to buy it in lots of $10,000. Which is not easy for many people...???
maybe i am wrong, but i am pretty sure this is how it's done.
Yes demand from China and India compounded by the fact that both countries heavily subsidize the sale of fuel to their citizens, creating even more demand and thus making it more costly to us.
They won't lighten up on the subsidies because of fears it will cause social unrest.
Parental units told me its $4.17 in Lockport, near Buffalo. Here in Ft Wayne, its pretty much $3.99.
China subsidizes gas for its citizens, partly to lubricate their economy and partly to jump start their domestic auto industry. But that's getting very expensive for them. They are paying the same price as us and getting less and less bang for that buck. It's politically nasty for them to lift the subsidies and let people who generally drive once or twice a week to pay full price, so rationing could be in their future. India is likewise paying full pop and unlike China, they are badly behind in road construction.(the British only built rail there) So ask yourself this: did demand double in the same time that prices doubled? No. It's a bubble.