US gas prices fell 13 cents per gallon, but expected to rise

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of a regular gallon of gas dropped 13 cents in the past two weeks to $2.07, but it could soon rise.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the lowest prices in more than five years are likely to increase because of rising wholesale prices.

Lundberg says rising costs of crude oil the past 10 days should eventually be seen at the pump.

San Francisco continued to have the highest-priced gas in the Lower 48 states at $2.54 a gallon. Albuquerque, New Mexico, remained lowest at $1.73 a gallon.

FULL story at link..


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150125/us--gas_prices-cc0ef5382f.html

[madamvlb]

1. 1.79 yesterday...

I was driving through Fairfield NJ....

[yeoman6987]

2. These gas prices are good for the working class

I hope they stay for as long as possible. The working class has very few financial positives and this is one of them.

[Andy823]

3. Rising crude oil prices?

Where is this guy getting his information? Over on CNN money the have the current price, as of Friday, at $45.29. Thats not up it's down. I did see a couple of days last week where it went up, but it also came back down. Maybe I missed something, but I don't think it's been much lower than it is now, and I really don't see it going up anytime soon. Some are already saying it could bet down below $40.00, and some even say it may hit $30.00. The Saudis aren't going to cut production, and the smaller countries can't cut it, so who will be the first one to cut production? While some of the smaller shale producers are going to have to shut down, some of the bigger ones say they won't buckle to the Saudis, so I am looking forward to a good old fashioned "price war" that will keep prices down and help the 99%. I do think it will go back up sometime, just not sure when, but I don't see it happening very soon.

[Lucky Luciano]

4. Agreed all the way. nt

[kacekwl]

8. I noticed prices going up here in northern...

Illinois about .20-.25 cents . Just a chance to gouge for a week or so because they can.

[former9thward]

13. Saudis are predicting $200 a barrel.

OPEC’s secretary-general said oil prices as high as $200 a barrel are possible if producers fail to invest in new supply. Crude futures erased losses in New York.

“If you don’t invest in oil and gas, you will see more than $200,” Abdalla El-Badri said in an interview in London on Monday, without giving a timeframe. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, erased a decline of as much as 2.7 percent.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-26/opec-s-el-badri-sees-200-oil-possible-with-lack-of-investment.html

[IronLionZion]

5. US producers in North Dakota and Texas are cutting production

so watch tea party claim Obama is killing oil jobs or that this is somehow connected to not approving keystone xl.

[Lucky Luciano]

6. Wish I could short Nirth Dakota real estate right now!

Closest proxy would be local banks lending in the area, but I probably missed that train already.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. It is still $2.59 near me in the Philly area.

It could be due to the new state gas tax.

[happyslug]

9. It is $2.29 in Johnstown, same state taxes....

Now, Johnstown tends to get its oil via the Mississippi and Ohio river (as does the rest of Western Pennsylvania). Gasoline is shipped by barge then pipeline then tanker tractor trailer. There is a huge oil storage area on the Monongahela River, from where the Tractor Trailer haul from.

As a rule Philadephia, being closer to the coast, has cheaper oil then Western Pennsylvania. Philadelphia gets its oil from tankers that drop off their oil into refiners and distributors in New Jersey who then ship its as far west as Harrisburg, Western Pennsylvania Gasoline travels from the Oil tankers in Louisiana then by barge up the Mississippi, Ohio Monongahela River then by Tractor Trailers to Western Pennsylvania, including Johnstown. In the Mountains between Harrisburg and Altoona, it varies but mostly from the oil tanks on the Monongahela River.

Thus as you go WEST from Philadelphia the price increases till you hit the Altoona/Johnstown Area then it starts to drop again.

Here is a NATIONAL MAP of pipeline, the Red Ones are OIL/Diesel/Gasoline, notice only ONE RED line going across Pennsylvania:



http://www.propublica.org/article/pipelines-explained-how-safe-are-americas-2.5-million-miles-of-pipelines

Now the last couple of weeks Johnstown and has been five to ten cents cheaper then Pittsburgh, generally it is the opposite (Pittsburgh is about five cents cheaper). Thus the low prices in Johnstown may be the result of local conditions (Sheetz will MATCH whatever is the lowest price in an area, but will NEVER set the lowest price UNLESS Sheetz is opening a new store and then only at that store and then only for about a week or two).

Thus Philadelphia being higher gasoline prices then Pittsburgh is something that is rare.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. It's also a matter of competitition

On main routes like Route 1 (City Line Ave portion), where there are many gas stations, the prices are lower - in the $2.30s. But in local neighborhoods and rim suburbs, forget it.

They can charge more here because of the higher cost of living and often get away with price-fixing on the less traveled commercial roads.

[imthevicar]

10. 1.69 at Cosco on Rt. 1, in New Brunswick New Jersey

[happyslug]

12. And the roads in New Jersey are in terrible shape, due to low gasoline taxes,

Roads in Pennsylvania are bad, but as a whole better then New Jersey and this is mostly do to the low gasoline tax in New Jersey:

Pa Gasoline tax is $.5050 (or 50.5 Cents) a gallon

NJ Gasoline Tax is $.1459 (or 14.59 Cents) a gallon:

Thus Gasoline Taxes are $.3591 (35.91 Cents a Gallon) Cheaper in New Jersey then Pennsylvania. $1.69 plus 36 cents equal $2.05 a gallon. Johnstown is $2.29 and we are at the end of the Supply lines from the coastal refineries. If Johnstown is at $2.29 your prices should be lower not only by the 36 cents cheaper gasoline tax, but about 20 cents lower do to the fact tankers do not have to burn that much fuel to get the gasoline to you as compared to getting the same fuel to Johnstown (I suspect the difference is about 25 cents a gallon). If Johnstown is $2.29 you should be much cheaper then $1.69.

http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas-overview/industry-economics/fuel-taxes

New Jersey operates the 47th largest State highway system in the Nation (More then Hawaii, Rhode Island and Vermont who operates the 48th, 49th and 50th largest system of State Highways, or the smallest, second smallest and third Smallest State Systems, with New Jersey having the Fourth Smallest State Highway System). Pennsylvania operates the 5th largest State Highway System, behind Texas, North Carolina and Virginia.

Side Note: The term "State Highway System" means State Number Highways, but NOT State operated Local Highways. Pennsylvania had a huge number of "State owned and maintained Highways" that are NOT State Highways, i.e. are NOT numbered EXCEPT for a four digit number as opposed to single, double and triple digits numbers used to designate State Highways. Thus PA 422 is a "State Highway" but road 4022 is not, even through both are state owned and maintained. To my knowledge is unique with these local roads being State owned. These became State Owned during the Great Depression when then Governor Pinchot, a GOP Governor but a personal friend of FDR obtained funds under the New Deal to get the Farmers out of the Mud by paving rural roads, but he had to take them over to do so and he did. Thus when it comes to State Owned Roads, Pennsylvania is #1, but we are only #5 when it comes to State Designated Highways.

New Jersey ranks 48th in the nation in highway performance and cost-effectiveness in the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation.

New Jersey ranks 5th in fatality rate, 36th in deficient bridges, 31st in rural Interstate pavement condition, 46 th in urban Interstate pavement condition and 41st in urban Interstate congestion.

On spending, New Jersey ranks 50th in total disbursements per mile and 45th in administrative disbursements per mile.

New Jersey's best rankings are fatality rate (5th), narrow rural arterial lanes (19th) and rural Interstate pavement condition (31st).

New Jersey's worst rankings are total disbursements per mile (50th), maintenance disbursements per mile (50th) and capital-bridge disbursements per mile (50th).

New Jersey's state-controlled highway mileage makes it the 47th largest system.

Pennsylvania ranks 41st in the nation in highway performance and cost-effectiveness in the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation.

Pennsylvania ranks 34th in fatality rate, 48th in deficient bridges, 20th in rural Interstate pavement condition, 23 rd in urban Interstate pavement condition and 33rd in urban Interstate congestion.

On spending, Pennsylvania ranks 26th in total disbursements per mile and 24th in administrative disbursements per mile.

Pennsylvania's best rankings are rural Interstate pavement condition (20th), capital-bridge disbursements per mile (21st) and urban Interstate pavement condition (23rd).

Pennsylvania's worst rankings are narrow rural arterial lanes (50th) and deficient bridges (48th).

Pennsylvania's state-controlled highway mileage makes it the 5th largest system.

Complete Results
.........................................................New Jersey............Pennsylvania

Overall Rank in 2012: ...............................48th........................41st

Overall Rank in 2011:................................47th........................40th

Overall Rank in 2009:................................46th........................39th

Performance by Category in 2012 - Ranking

Total Disbursements per Mile......................50............................26

Capital and Bridge Disbursements per Mile.....50............................21

Maintenance Disbursements per Mile............50............................34

Administrative Disbursements per Mile..........45............................24

Rural Interstate Pavement Condition............31............................20

Rural Arterial Pavement Condition................46............................24

Urban Interstate Pavement Condition...........46............................23

Urban Interstate Congestion......................41............................33

Deficient Bridges.....................................36.............................48

Fatality Rate...........................................5.............................34

Narrow Rural Arterial Lanes Performance......48.............................50