Price Gouging

[[AK]Squidly]

Yesterday gas at my local station was $2.55 a gallon for regular. Today it's $2.74.

[[AK]StitchJones]

Yesterday gas at my local station was $2.55 a gallon for regular. Today it's $2.74.

Your still .18$ cheaper a gallon then me!

[[AK]Squidly]

Prices from region to region will vary. It's the one day jump that raises my eyebrow (and drew an email to the price-gouging website that NJ state Gov has set up.)

[[AK]Bribo]

My Dad's girlfriend has a daughter who lives in Mississippi. She and her family weathered the storm but they say their town has no power and looks like a war zone.

She said that a local gas station was selling gas at $13.00 a gallon before he ran out and was eventually arrested by the police for price gouging.

President Bush has opened up the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to help with supply issues. This kind of scenario is exactly why the SPR was created. Good thing we didn't listen to those politicians (like my own Sen. Chuck Schumer) who were calling for us to use the SPR to push oil prices down. They might not be there today to help with this crisis.

[[AK]The Beast]

I saw similar price increases to those Squidly reported all over town. The fact of the matter is that the minute crude oil prices climb, pretty much every single gas station immediately raises their price correspondingly. But once oil prices make their way back down, now "it takes time for a price change to make its way down to refined products like gasoline". Taking advantage of a tragedy like a hurricane is disgusting--but it's just business as usual for most of these places.

[[AK]Squidly]

I've seen reports that the price will continue to rise throughout the week, and may well end up a full $1 higher in 7 days time.

Sweet!

[[AK]Hylander]

It's mostly economics. We have extremely limited refining capability (Thank the enviro-terrorists) and we lost some of it in Katrina. Justified or not, that real, perhaps obtusely perceived, decrease in supply causes the price to go up.

I paid $2.46 on Monday... the same station is already up to $2.74 as of this morning. I have no doubt I'll see $3.00 by the end of the week... perfect for my trip to upstate NY this weekend.

But don't worry.... we are in Iraq for the "cheap oil", it should be kicking in any day now.

[[AK]Nuts]

It's mostly economics. We have extremely limited refining capability (Thank the enviro-terrorists) and we lost some of it in Katrina. Justified or not, that real, perhaps obtusely perceived, decrease in supply causes the price to go up.

I paid $2.46 on Monday... the same station is already up to $2.74 as of this morning. I have no doubt I'll see $3.00 by the end of the week... perfect for my trip to upstate NY this weekend.

But don't worry.... we are in Iraq for the "cheap oil", it should be kicking in any day now.

Here Here!

My thoughts exactly.

[[AK]StitchJones]

perfect for my trip to upstate NY this weekend.

Good when you pass by Ballston Spa you can drop my power supply off

[[AK]Squidly]

The gas that's sitting in the ground at your local gas station waiting to be pumped was purchased well before Katrina made landfall. Yet they jack the price up on THAT. I don't have a problem with oil companies making money, but come on...cut a brother a break.

[[AK]Hylander]

Good when you pass by Ballston Spa you can drop my power supply off

Sent by blind carrier pigeon..... Never stop looking to the stars!!

[[AK]Hylander]

The gas that's sitting in the ground at your local gas station waiting to be pumped was purchased well before Katrina made landfall. Yet they jack the price up on THAT. I don't have a problem with oil companies making money, but come on...cut a brother a break.

I don't ever remember hearing people complaining when they cut prices and they paid more for that gas in the ground. Just think of it as statistical smoothing.. a moving average. In 30 years when gas drops again, just remember that.

[[AK]The Beast]

I don't ever remember hearing people complaining when they cut prices and they paid more for that gas in the ground. Just think of it as statistical smoothing.. a moving average. In 30 years when gas drops again, just remember that.

But once oil prices make their way back down, now "it takes time for a price change to make its way down to refined products like gasoline"

I posit that most gas stations don't lose money on the gas they put in the ground prior to a price break--the gas station industry in general is quicker to raise prices when crude goes up than they are to lower prices when crude goes down. That's all based on personal anecdotal evidence--I'd love to see some statistics that prove me right or wrong.

[[AK]Hylander]

I posit that most gas stations don't lose money on the gas they put in the ground prior to a price break--the gas station industry in general is quicker to raise prices when crude goes up than they are to lower prices when crude goes down. That's all based on personal anecdotal evidence--I'd love to see some statistics that prove me right or wrong.

I think it's like any other business.. it depends on the independent store. I know the gas station I go to here in NJ lowers prices pretty fast, alot faster than the Exxon/Mobile/Texaco's in PA. But then again, it also depends on the owners. The Pakistani owned Exxon is generally 8 - 10 cents more expensive than the Indian owned one on my way to work. Yet I 'thought' their prices were limited by their contract with Exxon?

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday.

"There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"

$4 per gallon

[Slaughter]

Around here it has jumped more than 50 cents in one day before...

Suspicious? Yes. Do people still pay for it? Yes.