well were close .. almost 4 buck a gallon gas.

[38HAULR]

We had a Federal election last Nov,and change of Gov and the  now incumbent Prime Minister when in opposition claimed he had all the answers for rising prices . In OZ our petrol has excise,and then the Gov also adds 10% GST calculated on the base price+excise . Hence we pay a tax on a tax. He is now looking at the GST and changing the calculation to "save us poor motorists some money".  However this clown rushed out when elected and signed the "Kyoto Protocol'.  So whatever saving is gained in the tax formula fiddle will now be more than made up for by a hinted "carbon tax" because he has to back up his credentials for being a "planet saver" . This bloke would have been at home in what I see in some of the Western movies ,you know. The bloke in the wagon selling all sorts of elixirs.  Trying to think of the name for them ........Frank.

[river1]

This bloke would have been at home in what I see in some of the Western movies ,you know. The bloke in the wagon selling all sorts of elixirs.  Trying to think of the name for them ........Frank.

crook
politician
criminal
politician
thief
politician
snake oil salesman
politician


take your pick they're all similar

later jim

[kb426]

I paid 3.79 in Garden City today. That's .20 cheaper than my town 50 miles away.

[chopped]

Just hit #4.10 south of Atl. This is really starting to concern me. If someone wanted to wipe out the middle class could they find a easier way? I hate to think what people with kids are doing for groceries.

[38HAULR]

How much is your LPG or what you call propane in the US?.  Do many consider running this an alternative?.  This fuel is widely used in OZ .I am building a 38 Chev PU on straight LPG,and about to switch my 66 Mustang over also.......Frank.

[enjenjo]

Propane is about $2.90 a gallon here, but very hard to find a place to fuel mobile tanks.

[Dave]

4.09 last night for fuel.. I see the news says its gonna go higher.. they also say the national average is like 3.97 but that dont mean $hit to us that are seeing 4.09 to 4.20... We really get boned here in michigan.. Ge i got my stimulus check yesterday and too bad  Bush is gonna get all the god dammed money back as i buy gas...... Nice plan for him....
Dave

[Dave]

New idea i think ill run to windsor and spend all my 1200 bucks there helping some young ladys thru college      
Dave

[Jbird]

You'd probably be wiser to spend it on young hookers, well of course, to you, pretty much everything is young.

On a lighter note, gas out here next to the Pacific Ocean has been going up 4-5 cents a day for the last week. Cheepo 87 octane WAS $4.35 & 9/10ths this am. Did I miss some 'global disaster' that destroyed oil production? By the end of the month I'll have at least one kidney on egay just so I can fill up the truck.     Jbird

[zzford]

I read in the paper that economic experts have said that were it not for the effect the speculators have had on the oil market, gas would be around $2.25 - $2.50 per gallon. Nice that someone's getting wealthy on our backs. I hope there is an oil market crash and these greedy bastards loose everything. Hope it depresses them to the point of suicide.

[river1]

I hope there is an oil market crash and these greedy bastards loose everything.

Why oil prices will tank

later jim

[Uncle Bob]

Did I miss some 'global disaster' that destroyed oil production?    Jbird

"Destroyed"? No.  Threatened?  Yes.  In a market this tight, any threat of disruption sends the price crazy.  Isreal made it clear Thursday that it was prepared to kick the snot out of Iran when they unveil their nukes.  That, and some "experts" believe that the commodity investors were shorting the market earlier in the week when crude prices were dropping and had to rush to cover their positions which caused a bidding frenzy that accelerated the pricing rise.

As for wishing ill on the speculators that could prove interesting for some on here.  It's reported;  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2008/06/01/sunbiz_beckcol_0601.html  that pension funds are some of the biggest players in the commodity markets today.  You might say, the union boss giventh, the union boss taketh away.

[freddrew]

We came through New York state this morning and the price was $4.19.9 at almost all stations.  That is still cheaper than what we have in Ontario.  At home the price is $1.39.9 per liter (4 liters to a US gallon).
Fred Drew

[Carnut]

I still wonder how we can continue to build 40 million cars a year to keep the auto industry jobs contributing to the economy and then wonder where is all the gas going?

Each of those new cars has gotta use more gas and I don't think we're really scrapping an equal number cars each year to make up for the new users.

Seems if you keep upping demand and not drilling for new sources your gonna have some problems eventually.

Saw a show about China recently and was surprised to see China has built and is continuing to build an 'Interstate' hiway system modeled almost exactly on our own.

Seems there a whole lot of folks in China gonna be buying new cars to drive on those hiways.

Kinda like the joke that there are more folks in China who can speak english than there are here in the U.S.

All those folks are gonna continue to compete for what petroleum supplies there are in the world.

Now Shawn Tully has an idea about the current affair.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/06/news/economy/tully_oil_bust.fortune/index.htm

Not real sure I agree totally with him, but it is a thought.

Then again many in the industry don't have a real clue to what is going on.

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Oil/idUSL0930489320080609

Anyhow, filled up 3 of my rides last week at $3.64 and this afternoon I see it's up to $3.76 here.

[Gilles]

Interesting topic.

The gas price in France is like crafty says for England : around 1.50€ per liter, or 8.5/9$ per gallon. But the dollar is very weak at the moment, making a false comparaison.

During a trip in USA last year I was chocked to see so much very big trucks. I think a truck driver license would be necessary to drive them in France! Same with motor-homes.

Another chock is the lack of diesel engine, even in trucks. Here 70% of cars and 100% of trucks are diesel powered.

My rent car in the USA was a PT cruiser. The gas mileage was pretty bad, no more than 23 mpg. I don't know if normal or an exception.

The european equivalent  car in size,  for exemple a renault scenic or citroen picasso, powered by a 110HP  common-rail injection turbo-diesel, with 5 or 6 speed manual transmission gets an average 45/48mpg on roads, 35to 40 mpg in town. As for most of european diesel powered cars.  A toyota prius has no more gas mileage than our average car-except in town- and simply doesn't worth the extra cost.  Citroen and peugeot are working in a small 3 cylinders diesel hybrid car that will do 80 mpg.
It's why we can manage our gas prices, cars built with efficiency in mind. Another factor is the much density of population. We have to travel less, and it's easier to developp good public transportation. But a lot of people (living in the countryside) have to drive a lot to go to work, these are in trouble now with the petrol prices. My job is 5 km (around 3 miles)from home, I use a bicycle most of the time for 12 years now. When the weather goes bad in winter I take the bus. It's not only because of the fuel price. It's far more practicle. Drive a car and find to park it simply a hassle. 3 miles means at least 8 red lights, one or 2 roundabouts, 4 or 6 speed bumps! And I prefer spend petrol in my V8 powered roadster on week-ends than in my 4 cylinders small french car during the week!

I know that the USA is totaly different, most of the city where built for cars, the distances are uge and public transportation-or bicycles lanes- useless.  I heard on the news that you are discussing on the 4 days week.

I'm sure that your car makers will react and start to build energy efficient cars, wich is possible with the technology alreaday availlable. Less fuel consumption will lower the barrel price, and it will make less expensive to drive our hot -rods!

Gilles