oil again on downside.

Last weekend we filled the wife's vehicle up for 1.79 per gal. (was 2.09 but had .30 off for grocery card). Today we had to pay 2.85. I have a company vehicle fortunately (can't use it for personal use) but drive it home. Don't use oil have natural gas for backup. Before the supposed jump because of a refinery some were predicting gas to fall under 2.00.

 

fri close domestic crude, $42.74. locust your paying a buck+ more in a week is curious, at best! i'll be watching Monday.

 

It's $3.29 in Rogers City, MI this weekend. I think I'll hold off on filling up tomorrow until I make it to Gaylord. It's 'only' 2.99 there.

 

Cue the refinery malfunction.

 

it is a regional increase, profit taking? sell out and replace with cheaper refill? or gouge?

 

It's whatever it takes to keep the profits high.

 

guess Midwest idea is right. like the last 100days comments. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-gas-prices-are-rising-as-oil-falls-to-6-year-lows-2015-08-15

 

I've never seen a commodity fluctuate in price like gasoline. How can it be .50 higher (30%) one day, .35 lower the next day, and .60 higher the third day? Is it really that volatile? Something smells funny , and it ain't gasoline!

 

And they get away with it like nothing happened. They feel no shame to this trick. Hard to fight back when we just walk in step and think there is nothing we can do about it.

 

yeah oil is oil but the only purchaser of raw crude in world is a refinery and we have not built a new one that I know of since 1970s.. so all in us are 40 plus years old and wearing out kind of like me

 

I believe in alternative fuels, but why can't we drill while researching and developing said fuels? I realize that politics are involved and will not discuss that, but just seems like common sense is not that common anymore. (wow, starting to sound like my dad!) haha

 

Mostly with alternative fuels- requires more energy to make them than saves. If and when that ever changes they will then become viable.

 

not much of a change this am. $42.68. see what the rest of the day brings?

 

"seems like common sense is not that common anymore" ... I couldn't agree more Brad. I even saw a story a while ago where a college prof was teaching a course showing students it wasn't necessary to actually "know" anything anymore, just how to look it up on the computer...Young people who have had iPhones and laptops since the cradle, may have never even heard of the term common sense, much less have any. What could possibly go wrong........

 

X2!!

 

wow that was certainly exciting. down 1% as of 3pm. better than watching climate models! experts certainly didn't call for a neutral move ? what a waste of ink?

 

I believe there was some talk about a couple new ones to be built, don't remember where or what company. My poor old memory seems to suggest that a minimum construction time for a complete refinery is about 7 years- not counting all the government/ EPA permits just to even think about selecting a site - likely another 7-10 years before physical construction can even begin. Not to mention the aging infrastructure which is already hard pressed in most areas. If I remember correctly this was also tied into the Keystone pipeline debacle as well as something bandied about as to a new one located in better location for the Balkan shale oil. Now with crude at an extreme low as compared to recent times the expenditure for this would not be something a number cruncher at a major corp would recommend at present on a short sighted basis. Long term positioning market wise would be another question as to weather the gamble would possibly payoff. One has to go back at least 40 or more years to get a smattering of understanding in this area. The acquisition of many small refineries by a few large corporations combined with EPA regulations ( which of course had a major play in this) have led us to the present. There is more to this concerning commodities and futures - market regulations that were changed, but I just do not remember enough to describe other than to say it has led to the massive oil pricing increases which just fuels every other inflationary cost increase along with the poorly conceived idea that production of Ethanol would reduce our country's dependance on oil. That's another story in itself. But I am just a dumb old mechanic so don't know nothing about anything therefore everything above is my opinion which isn't worth the cost of the electrons to send this.

 

Chris, I got a BS in Business Admin. concentration International and finance. 8 Credits short of Masters At top 5 business school in Northeast. For a "dumb old mechanic" your better than half my class mates! The only thing I can see you missed in your overall posts is why increase happened. Which is just international politics and the shortsighted people. Here is what I mean 15 years ago crude is cheap.. China is growing and gets Olympics.. wants to put on a good show. Government buys lots of oil builds bridges dams roads etc.. Caterpillar Mobil and others stock go up. China real growth 15% per year. They did not get the pollution problem at Olympics by riding bikes and picking rice by hand!

Nothing grows at close to 20% per year forever. China in slowdown.. all commodities drop in price. Not bad thing.. Every bubble ends at some point but where are guys predicting 250 barrel oil?

 

I think I just heard a sheik in Saudi Arabia sneeze......the price of oil should fluctuate up or down now. Give it a minute.