Still $2.91+ here in upstate NY, the land of high taxes and over paid politcians... I just saw the $2.91 this AM till today it was running $2.94+.

 

Filled up on Sunday...cheapest "Shell/Chevron/76" I coud find in So.Cal: $2.93/gal.

Arco is $2.82 or something like that...but I avoid Arco.

 

Saw 2 stations near work today (near Fort Worth, TX) at $2.439/gal. It's a little higher in Dallas, but only .05 to .10 or so more.

 

Lowest price in Columbus right now is $2.20 / gal. Average is $2.30.

 

Why there is a 30% price difference in the price of gasoline between different parts of the country? Oil is plentiful and there have been no disruptions in supply of oil or distilled products. Even the North slope is producing at a good rate, and the pipeline disruption there appears to only have a very minor effect on output.

The secondary and larger question is that now that prices are in a free fall, how quickly will Americans return to their favorite auto dealers to begin purchasing a whole new round of Hummers and Escalades, RAM Hemi's and F150's?

Now is the time to increase the state/federal gas taxes by about $0.25 or more to make sure that those bad habits don't return.

 

We're down to $2.89 a gallon for Regular now at a number of stations... Whoopie

Interesting thing was one station had dropped to $2.84 over the weekend, but I noticed last evening they were back up to $2.89 like the majority of them.

On the gas tax... Leave the gas tax alone and tax the gas guzzlers when they buy a new or used gas guzzler. Those of us who paid a premium to get a fuel efficient vehicle should reap some benefits. Besides the taxes on almost everything, especially fuel, are way to high now. You raise the fuel taxes and it affects EVERYTHING (food, cloths, durable goods, etc...) you purchase, as transportation rates soar when that happens. Taxing the 'gas guzzler' at purchase makes just those who want those vehicles pay the price, not everybody.

 

You try taxing the big guzzlers and the big three is going to be up in arms. Not sure that's really possible.

I would go for taxing gasolene IFF all of that tax proceeds goes to R&D/infrastructures and the like for alternative energy for transportation. It's time for Americans to do something (those that uses gas) to get us out of the 19th century mode of transportation, and foriegn dependency..before there's no more gas to tax. Let gasolene be used where they are needed, like airlines and industry. Not commuters where alternative modes exists...just need to be cheaper. IMHO all the way.

 

One reason is that many states have different gasoline formulations. Some still allow MTBE (=cheaper cost) some have 10% ethanol (=higher cost depending on cask strength) some states have higher/lower taxes and fed tax is the same throughout. States like HI have high shipping costs/tax etc while the gulf states have lower shipping costs etc.

 

Ouch. What you are proposing almost sounds like a flat price for gasoline, say $3 a gallon and have the FET adjust to keep the price fixed. I'm not a huge fan of giving the Federal gov more revenue just to punish people who chose to drive gas hogs. As was stated earlier, if the money were to be earmarked for infrastructure repairs/maintenance, public transit, incentives for hybrid buyers then I might go along. But just to give the pols a windfall of cash results in more pork barrel projects.

Here in the People's Republic of MA, some pols are calling for the state gas tax to be cut since prices are so high. Others are saying it should be raised because it is now a smaller percentage of the purchase price. Gotta love an election year....

Saw $2.17 a gallon this morning at el-cheapo cash station. $2.37 at the Hess half a mile up the street.....look out below!

 

Let's ask a more basic question.......

Why are prices so high in Europe and so low in North America, especially considering the source price for a barrel of oil is the same across the board?

The answer (to the best of my experience & knowledge) is that in Europe, several governments DO tax petrol, with the intent being to drive consumer behavior to demand more fuel efficient vehicles. Proceeds from the taxes are used to finance road maintenance, among other things. In the US, a significant across the board tax on gasoline would likely result in a lot of congressional reps not getting voted back to Washington. <-------(my opinion). Prices differ from state to state because of the difference in local and state gasoline taxes.

By placing taxes on vehicles being purchased by consumers, Congress only angers those who buy vehicles that are impacted by the tax, and to some degree the automakers. To assuage the automakers, Congress builds in a complex weave of credit earning opportunities that allow automakers to shield some of the higher consuming vehicles through model mix with lower consuming vehicles and development of alternative propulsion vehicles.

Peace,

Martin