Gas Price Gougers #&@%!

[tallyho8]

Hurricane Gustav seems to be headed straight for New Orleans and last night the news told people to be ready to evacuate and fill their gas tanks. I had just filled my tanks yesterday but I went back to the station to fill my cans with gas and diesel for the generator and tractor. The stations in our area raised the price of gas 40 cents a gallon overnight! The Louisiana attorney general announced that price-gouging at gas stations would be cracked down on during hurricane evacuations but the stations are saying that some oil rigs in the gulf had to shut down for the hurricane and it raised the price of oil and drove their prices up. If this is true, it raised the price of your gas too even if you are far away from the hurricane threatened area. For those of you who live hundreds of miles from the gulf, did your gas go up 40 cents a gallon last night?

 

[smfcpacfp]

No it didn't, but don't whine about it. Vote with your feet, and don't buy gas from vendors that don't meet your needs, or start your own gas station and don't raise prices.

The problem with this country is that we have too many whiners who want someone to take care of them when they are unhappy.

 

[JESSE1]

I've noticed an increase of 10-20 cents per gallon. All motels/hotels in this area are already booked up for the next week.

 

[Skyco]

Oh yeah gas shot up 30+ cents a gallon overnight here in the middle of SC at some stations. I figured it was a combination of Gustav and the holiday weekend coming, they ream us on those holiday weekends every year.

 

[thatguy]

Keep in mind that some gas stations price their fuel based on what their next load will cost them, not what the load they are selling costs...

With the recent hurricanes I saw on the new that gas prices jumped considerably. SO they may not be gouging, just normal procedure..

But i doubt any station ever lowers their prices below their actual fuel cost no matter what the next load is going to cost..

Brian

 

[AlanB]

Not 40 cents, but yes, we were just discussing this.

My wife and I find it amazing that there is a "threat" to the gas supply and the price INSTANTLY goes up.

But when the price of oil DROPS, it takes a considerable amount of time for it to drop.

While it aggravates me, I have to agree with the above poster SMFCPACFP (even if he won't fix the worlds best wheelie video ) but I think folks are not just whining. I think you have seen more action to move away from oil dependence in the last 6 months, then I saw in the previous 6 years.

I think we have a combination of complain while we are fixing and adapting going on.

And yes, at some point, it just comes down to price gouging. And they are getting by with it, so why stop?

 

[DocHeb]

Went up $0.20 last week just talking about a possible hurricaine.

To stay in business, the gas stations need to sell their current inventory at a price that allows them to buy more gas in the future. It is not a viable option to sell the gas in their tanks for less than the future gas wholesale price since they will not have enough cash flow to maintain their inventory.

A busy filling station may get two deliveries a week. It is certainly possible that gas might go up 10% ($0.40) within the next week due to local conditions for that station. This is not gouging, it is staying in business.

Gas prices drop more slowly than they go up since the inventory throughout the entire system has to be sold at the higher prices so that they don't sell at a loss (another bad business plan.)

Politicians that rail against "gouging" or "excess profits" are pandering to the electorate.

 

[jdbower]

I wonder, price increases should help the equally despicable consumer-side practice of hording. Perhaps the choice is paying 40 cents more for gas or having no gas available at the same price it was before because everyone decides to horde just before the storm instead of being prepared all the time.

 

[EddieWalker]

No it didn't, but don't whine about it. Vote with your feet, and don't buy gas from vendors that don't meet your needs, or start your own gas station and don't raise prices.

The problem with this country is that we have too many whiners who want someone to take care of them when they are unhappy.

Seems like you're a little harsh here. There is a big difference between whining and venting when life gets difficult and having to deal with it. A .40 cent increase in fuel overnight sucks, and it's only going to get worse.

Eddie

 

[dmccarty]

Last night the price of diesel was at 4.15 where it has been for a week or so. Did not drive by this morning so it could have gone up.

For the most part the stations I drive by seem to raise and lower the price at about the same rate. There is one station that has a location where there is not another place to get fuel for 5-10 miles and he gets lots of contractor traffic. His price is always higher than other places. He is at least 10-20 cents higher per gallon but he has the location and no competition.

Later,
Dan