Oil hit what $120 a barrel today? Gas here is 3.63 per gallon for 89. I can travel 20 minutes in any direction and find gas at least a nickel cheaper. 89 and 91 around here contain 10% ethanol yet the price keeps going up. Someone explain why this is.

Also diesel has hit 4.19 a gallon. All of the refineries have switched to their low sulfur diesel, why is it still so much more then regular gas. This is going to kill the trucking industry in no time. Oh and too bad around these parts they have removed most of the rail road tracks, so rail which is probably cheaper now is not even an alternative.

The price of everything else is going to keep going up unless something major happens.

Personally I ride my bicycle or motorcycle to work everyday and make very few excess trips to save.

Here's my problem with the whole gas thing:

Is there a shortage? I haven't seen any stations running out of gas. I don't see refineries running out of oil.

Record oil prices? Check. Record demand? Not so much. Record profits??? Check. You can't have record oil prices, "questionable supply", and record profits. That equation just doesn't work. The price of oil is being artificially inflated, and Exxon/Mobil is laughing their asses off to the bank.

Exactly, I think we are being brainwashed by media and the gov.

I understand that India/China are using more and more everyday compared to 10 years ago, but not to the extent that we are seeing at the pump. Someone needs to step up and take a look at their operations. We do not hear anything in the news about any other countries seeing the price increases we have been seeing

Hell no,,, there's no shortage!! Just like there was no shortage in the late 70's. I worked for Chevron back then and we never had an issue getting our tanks full. We would sit around and laugh at the hysteria the media caused.

The bastards have figured out that we will bitch, and whine, and moan and complain,,, all the while, we are digging deeper into our pockets and paying the ransom the charge.

People will complain for a while then it goes away....The media cannot even get their stories straight. Some report a shortage others report an excess due to people changing their habits and consumer spending being down.

I think I am just going to invest in my own bio-diesel and screw the gov all i can

The other thing that amazes me is that you will have articles in the paper about rising gas prices, food prices, foreclosures, decline in the economy, and no one will put them all together:

The reason why the economy is going in the shitter is because people have no money for frivolous purchases, it's going in their gas tanks.

The reason why there are so many foreclosures is because people can pay their mortgage or put gas in their cars to get to work. They choose work so they know they can feed their families.

The reason food prices are so high is because of the cost of transportation.

Bottom line, there is NO reason why gas prices should be over a dollar a gallon. The gas companies are just jacking up the prices as much as the people will pay. This entire "recession" is because of gas prices.

If Exxon made a PROFIT of $50 billion, that means they could cut their profits 99% and make a profit of $50 million. This is about greed and fucking the consumer, nothing more, nothing less.

Personally I ride my bicycle or motorcycle to work everyday and make very few excess trips to save.

Good! :bigthumb: I hate whiny helpless bitches that don't make the slightest effort to resolve their issues with rising costs.

Just fwiw, I do believe there is an oil shortage in certain places within the UK. Personally I'm not seeing any change here (except that price is going up).. I still get my 94 octane (that's 98 RON incase somebody wants to call me out) just that now it's $.98 a liter instead of $.92..

Now, if I could find a gas station around here that had race fuel... We got coupons which are good for ANY type of gas and about $1.10 per liter..

Good! :bigthumb: I hate whiny helpless bitches that don't make the slightest effort to resolve their issues with rising costs.

We've parked the Expedition for the summer, and if I didn't have two kids to cart around, I'd get a motorcycle too.


Shit, I've debated trading in for a MINI.

Another thing I fail to understand is the failure of the automakers to produce vehicles that get 50mpg. Are the government and the oil companies holding them back?

You cannot tell me the technology is not there to get 100mpg out of a normal combustion engine. Hell I get 40mpg on a 97 civic with 167k...These hybrids are worthless more waste goes into building one and recycling it in the end then with a 'non-hybrid' vehicle, and for what maybe 10mpg more!

Another thing I fail to understand is the failure of the automakers to produce vehicles that get 50mpg. Are the government and the oil companies holding them back?

You cannot tell me the technology is not there to get 100mpg out of a normal combustion engine. Hell I get 40mpg on a 97 civic with 167k...These hybrids are worthless more waste goes into building one and recycling it in the end then with a 'non-hybrid' vehicle, and for what maybe 10mpg more!

Of course the technology is there... But rather than giving you 150 - 200 h.p. cars that get 100mpg, they are giving you 425 h.p. cars that get 25mpg.

Seriously, look at those 425 h.p. hemis... 20 years ago, 425 h.p. was supercar territory, now it's grocery getters doing it.

Very true, but look at the new SmartCar...it is half the size of my civic and for a 3cyl engine it only gets mid 30s.

One other thing is the fact that around here we get the same fuel all year round...none of this summer and winter blends, yet the blame that for the higher prices all the time also. Why don't the oil companies just make refineries make one or the other instead of having downtime to swap back and forth....Oh yeah it would cut into their profits, silly me

Very true, but look at the new SmartCar...it is half the size of my civic and for a 3cyl engine it only gets mid 30s.

One other thing is the fact that around here we get the same fuel all year round...none of this summer and winter blends, yet the blame that for the higher prices all the time also. Why don't the oil companies just make refineries make one or the other instead of having downtime to swap back and forth....Oh yeah it would cut into their profits, silly me

You want to know why summer prices are higher? To make up for the decrease in demand for winter heating oil. That's it. That's the reason.

And I saw one of those smartcars on the road. Death wish.

Of course the technology is there... But rather than giving you 150 - 200 h.p. cars that get 100mpg, they are giving you 425 h.p. cars that get 25mpg.

Seriously, look at those 425 h.p. hemis... 20 years ago, 425 h.p. was supercar territory, now it's grocery getters doing it.

Exactly. Engine technology is more efficiently, but mpg is being traded for hp.

Oil prices rose above $119 a barrel as oil giant BP prepared to shut down a key North Sea pipeline and a strike at Exxon in Nigeria disrupted production

BP's Forties pipeline, which provides a third of the UK's daily oil output, will close if a two-day strike by refinery workers goes ahead.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7366896.stm

Industrial action and attacks from militants have forced the two biggest oil companies in Nigeria to cut their production.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7368436.stm

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- According to Reuters, a ship contracted by the U.S Military Sealift Command fired at least one shot toward an Iranian boat. Reuters cited an unnamed U.S. defense official in its report on Friday morning and said that more details were not yet available. Crude oil spiked more than $3 in the wake of the news. End of Story

More important:

The company said production was affected, but would not say by how much.

Isn't that convenient. What if it shut 'em down for 10 minutes? They release shit like this with zero details to start a panic. Nothing more, nothing less.

My point was only that it seems to be allot of uncertainty in the oil markets, lots of things may go to hell and that's why the prices are being pushed so high...

And yes, the oil manufacturers are the ones who benefits from this fear...

And oil is commonly traded in futures contracts, so high prices don't necessarily mean that there is a shortage today, only that the market expects a shortage..

I'm probably being captain obvious here but what the heck..:p

Motorcycles are perfectly capable of getting ulta-high MPG too, but they trade that in for things like a high redline, larger torque curve, and increased top end :P

Emissions controls are a HUGE detriment to fuel economy. Keep that in mind.

I ride my Nighthawk everywhere because it gets so much better MPG then my Suzuki :P

Motorcycles are perfectly capable of getting ulta-high MPG too, but they trade that in for things like a high redline, larger torque curve, and increased top end :P

Except for the Ninja 250. Go for a scooter if you want insane mpg....and even those aren't using fuel injection, so there's plenty of room for improvement.

I'm waiting for Michael Moore to bash the oil companies on video.

Michael Moore is an idiot.

Except for the Ninja 250. Go for a scooter if you want insane mpg....and even those aren't using fuel injection, so there's plenty of room for improvement.

Quite a few of the new mopeds being sold around here are fuel injected now

Guy at work was talking about getting a 250cc scooter. Because it gets 96mpg, that and his wife wont let him buy a real bike.

So who or what is going to have to change to get the prices to level off or drop?

So who or what is going to have to change to get the prices to level off or drop?

World peace and a decrease in demand:roll:
I wouldn't be very surprised by oil prices upwards to 200$ within the next five-ten years...

I actually think that it is collusion going on, and not competition. I posted this calculation on the 7club.

Combine total profits for US oil companies in 2007:

$123 Billion or $410 per American

I think on the Forbes list 7 of the top 10 most profitable companies in the World were Oil companies.

http://www.wtrg.com/oil_graphs/oilprice1947.gif

My Peugeot moped got ~101mpg and could hold 45 or so mph. I wouldn't want to go faster on that thing.

The advantages of a real bike are so numerous it's worth the ~25-30mpg drop in combined fuel economy, to me at least.

My Peugeot moped got ~101mpg and could hold 45 or so mph. I wouldn't want to go faster on that thing.

The advantages of a real bike are so numerous it's worth the ~25-30mpg drop in combined fuel economy, to me at least.

Yeah. Not looking like a fag is certainly worth the price. I'll stick with my SV getting ~45mpg thanks.

I just got a 4 cyl jeep for daily driving. The RX is pretty expensive to drive to and from work. If it didn't rain every other day around here I'd have gotten a moped long ago.

But untill there's a serious change somehow gas is just gonna keep going up and theres really nothing to do about it. start walking.

I got the bike in the trunk. When I'm at my aunt's it will be my chariot.

My college is about two miles from her house and I make the trip at least twice a day. Saving money and myself FTW

Why aren't you using the bike now?? I thought you were already staying at your aunt's house

I stay there three days a week.

I had planned on bringing it last week, but some finance issues, and not having a bike lock produced problems.

I've got a decent mountain bike, I got it on the cheap because its dérailleur is jacked up. I don't want someone walking, make that riding, away with my 14 speed 21 speed.

Sweet....I am contemplating switching my old mtn bike to a road bike. I need to do more research though. Plus my sprockets and rear wheel are bent, after 15 years, things wear over time!

It's like a hybrid, I think? Really narrow tires at high PSI. Kind of a best of both words.

It's a pretty pricey Mongoose, which is like saying it's a pretty pricey Festiva, but whatever.

Yeah. Not looking like a fag is certainly worth the price. I'll stick with my SV getting ~45mpg thanks.

Psh, I don't care what people think I look like :P

I'm not living this life to look good :P

Being able to go fast helps too.

I just hate seeing all of those thugs on the sportbike-wannabe scooters that pretend they're on sportbikes. And try to be all sportbikey with them.

Ok so who here thinks that the oil companies are giving the government, automakers, etc so many kickbacks/reasons not to develop other means of fuel for vehicles?

E85 looked good at first, but is driving the prices of food up. Plus it is actually not as clean as originally thought. Why not go straight ethanol? Look at Brazil. Soon the price of pure sugar will be cheaper then corn syrup

How about compact cars of the mid 90s. Civics, metros, festivas...These cars were mostly 40+mpg. This is actual day to day mileage, not some crap the EPA puts out. For what is advertised now...HYBRID is the only way to accomplish this oh and look at the price of these Hybrids, and what do they get maybe 10mpg better. Look at the Chevy EV1, why have they all disappeared, do a little research. The demand was strong, but GM claims they did not want to lose any more money. People were begging to buy the vehicles, but something or someone stepped in and said not to carry on..

I say BullShit! I think there is some serious shit going on and needs to be looked into.

Personally I'm not really affected, I drive maybe 10-20 miles a day. It just pisses me off that what is being reported by the media and what is advertised is a bunch of crap.:soapbox:

Think yourselves lucky! Here in the UK we're paying the equivilent of $8.24 to the gallon! or £1.12 / litre as we use here! Thats for normal unleaded (95 ron), if i'm filling my RX then I put super unleaded (98/99 ron), and that costs £1.20 a litre ($8.81/gallon).

And with gas prices the way they are . . .

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/fringe/sfl-513wronghole,0,637331.story

Planes dump 500 times more gas probably almost daily in just the US alone. The last time I had to "adjust gross weight" we became 50,000 lbs lighter. Don't worry, it wasn't in the US.

What I don't understand is how oil companies can get away with selling us E10 for the same price as regular fuel.

Think yourselves lucky! Here in the UK we're paying the equivilent of $8.24 to the gallon! or £1.12 / litre as we use here! Thats for normal unleaded (95 ron), if i'm filling my RX then I put super unleaded (98/99 ron), and that costs £1.20 a litre ($8.81/gallon).

I feel a little sympathy for you, but the Pound is twice as strong as the Dollar. So it would be like us buying gas at $4.40 a gallon. Which isn't very far off. And your country is just a little smaller than ours, so distance is not a big of factor.

Blame your government, with it 70% tax on gas compared to our 19.4 cents per gallon (plus state taxes vary from 0 to 32 cents per gallon).

What I don't understand is how oil companies can get away with selling us E10 for the same price as regular fuel.

No, I don't get how they get away with selling us E85 for the same price as premium, just because eth is high octane.

No, I don't get how they get away with selling us E85 for the same price as premium, just because eth is high octane.

Que?

Around here, ethanol is a full dollar cheaper.

And your country is just a little smaller than ours, so distance is not a big of factor.

Blame your government, with it 70% tax on gas compared to our 19.4 cents per gallon (plus state taxes vary from 0 to 32 cents per gallon).

You have a point, but I still travel 30 miles each way to work everyday, thats still pretty far, and pretty costly!

Yeah.... move to America.


...bring your car.

Yeah.... move to America.


...bring your car.

That would be a plan :bigthumb: Except I think I might get a bit bored with most of your roads being dead straight, with the occasional right angled corner ;)

There are plenty of good roads, if you know where to look.

Fuel is cheaper, too. Just tell them your car is up to US Specs.

Que?

Around here, ethanol is a full dollar cheaper.

Ack! Lucky bum :P Here it always matches the price of premium.

That would be a plan :bigthumb: Except I think I might get a bit bored with most of your roads being dead straight, with the occasional right angled corner ;)

I agree, I lived in Cambridge for a year and had my FD. So many damn curvy roads. I used to take B and C roads home from work when I was bored.

I agree, I lived in Cambridge for a year and had my FD. So many damn curvy roads. I used to take B and C roads home from work when I was bored.

Yep, definitely gets the most out of your car, especially when theres no one coming the other way!

I never pushed the car very hard on the small roads, it was actually difficult to drive because it was an American spec car. Right handers were scary. I had a golf gti 16V (RHD) which was my back up and a bunch of fun even though it didn't have the hp.

I feel a little sympathy for you, but the Pound is twice as strong as the Dollar. So it would be like us buying gas at $4.40 a gallon. Which isn't very far off. And your country is just a little smaller than ours, so distance is not a big of factor.

Blame your government, with it 70% tax on gas compared to our 19.4 cents per gallon (plus state taxes vary from 0 to 32 cents per gallon).

Actually its is what I said I think, $8 a gallon. Everything else costs more here too.

Welcome to TFL fdrzrich ^_^

Yeah, I've noticed that I burn through a LOT of fuel by driving on the backroads. The turns are great, but the village every 4 miles kinda suck... I've measured out my FD's economy several times and it's always between 12-14 mpg (American Gallon, 3.78 liters) on the small back roads.

Speed humps and round abouts are the bane of my existance (I'll learn to drift through the round abouts here soon enough I suppose... could make them more fun)..

Actually its is what I said I think, $8 a gallon. Everything else costs more here too.

It is closer to $9 a gallon. But you do make a more than us per hour, based on the minimum wages and currency conversion. Roughly $2 equals every 1 Pound.

I live in the US, I make $5.85 an hour (2.92 Pounds an hour).

I live in the UK, I make 5.73 Pounds an hour ($11.46 an hour).

All things being equal, your lowest paid employees do have to work longer for an equal amount of gas, but they are making almost 2 times the money of their American counterpart.

I don't think the currency conversion is really fair to use as grounds for bitching unless you are actually converting your money on a regular basis.

Aka, quit yer bitchin!! I get paid in US dollars, but have to spend pounds (unless I feel like doing EVERYTHING on base, which is just ghey) during the course of my day to day life...

I'm coming back to the states on Monday, I'll be there for three weeks and I'm STOKED because I won't be spending twice as much money for EVERYTHING..

$50 spent on a friday night out will actually be $50, instead of $100+... $6.00 on chinese food will not really be $12.00 for a thing of rice and some chicken. I won't have to pay $5.00 for a bottle of Corona..

Oh, it's gunna be GREAT!

I don't think the currency conversion is really fair to use as grounds for bitching unless you are actually converting your money on a regular basis.


I agree with you mate, the position you're in has to suck!
Its all relative to how much everything else costs I suppose. The fact a pint of beer costs £3 on average (or $6!) is not good. On the other hand, it does mean more people taking their holidays in the US, as to us everything seems half the price that it is in the UK. We've been going to Lake Tahoe snowboarding for the last few years because of this, although Europe is so much closer it's cheaper to go to US pretty much.

Fendamonkey, you do get paid in Dollars, but there are some loopholes. First, you get COLA (cost of living allowance), which is a nice chunk of change. Also, you get a housing allowance (100% tax free), which gives you a respectable amount of money (based on Pounds) to live on the economy. Then you have you commissary benefits and gas that you can buy on base. Any clothes, furniture, alcohol, and tobacco can be bought at the PX or BX, or class six and they are all tax free.

So if you never had a beer, or went to a restuarant, you could save more money.

I convert my money on a regular basis. I work in Dollars, on my own, and spend in Euros. I broke my personal record for the most expensive pint the other day. 8.50 Euros ($13.25).

I convert my money on a regular basis. I work in Dollars, on my own, and spend in Euros. I broke my personal record for the most expensive pint the other day. 8.50 Euros ($13.25).

But was it worth it?!:beer: Where was it and what was it!

Just a pint of Heineken. The place was La Fountain St Michel, in the most touristy part of Paris. I got lucky, because I showed up first and ordered. My friend picked up the round for the other two girls. It turned into one of those expensive 5 AM plus monday nights/tuesday mornings.

Lol! damn.. I'd never pay that much for a Heineken (it's rubbish imho)

The different compensations you're mentioning is totally spot on, though not really enough to make up for the weak dollar. I *do* still live on the economy and all my day to day expenses happen there (aside from gas). Unlike Lakenheath/Mildenhall our BX/Commisary SUCKS! Seriously (shit goes bad w/i a day or two after purchase).. The Exchange at Bagram AB in Afghanistan has more/better selection than the one here on Alconbury, the one at Camp Eggers in Kabul was about on par, and they were just a random little army outpost.

I'm not going to start bitching about things on this island though ;-) Don't wanna begin because I'm not sure where/when I'll end! lol.


But yeah, I forgot that you were a Pilot Dano, you've got more constant changes in conversion to to than me =P

I remember it was slim pickens over there at Alconbury. We only used for gas and adult beverages on our way to Scotland. We used to make the Lakenheath food and Popeyes run every saturday. You are definitely living on the economy more than I did.

I've noticed people buy gas more frequently now . . .

. . . around here we have gas lines now :/ I've started buying gas at night to avoid them.

Lemmings Tofu?

Or just the mindset...