[steam_cannon]

2008 there were a lot of people worried gas might break $6 a gallon then too. Then the economy tanked and prices came down a little. I think that eventually gas will reach $6 and probably in the next few years, but if gas ratchets up to $6 too soon then it's going to crush the economy and prices will come back down to $4 or $5. So I think it's going to be a slow ratcheting up and in the long term whatever happens it's a lose lose scenario.

That's not hard research, that's just my opinion at this point...

Coming soon: $6/gallon gasoline (Posted May 22, 2008)

[Novus]

It already feels like gas prices are leveling off. A little over $4 is all the economy can handle. After that people just stop driving because they are out of money and we get demand destruction.

[vision-master]

Went to fill up today, the lady in front of me used a 'credit card' and spent $8 (2 gal).

[misterno]

It already feels like gas prices are leveling off. A little over $4 is all the economy can handle. After that people just stop driving because they are out of money and we get demand destruction.

gas prices which is linked to oil prices which has nothing to do with consumption in the US.

This is a global market.

[AgentR11]

Went to fill up today, the lady in front of me used a 'credit card' and spent $8 (2 gal).

To be fair, my debit card is indistinguishable from a credit card unless you put it up close to your eyes to see the small print; and yeah, I'll use a debit card for purchases as small as a couple bucks without hesitation.

She might not have been charging $8 worth of gas to a credit account.

[Nefarious]

Went to fill up today, the lady in front of me used a 'credit card' and spent $8 (2 gal).

What's the point of 2 gallons of gas? If you can't afford any more than 2 gallons at a time to put in your tank,you've already been priced out the market. You're living on economic borrowed time.

[AgentR11]

What's the point of 2 gallons of gas? If you can't afford any more than 2 gallons at a time to put in your tank,you've already been priced out the market. You're living on economic borrowed time.

I suppose its a niche, but on a full tank, there are a couple of places I periodically drive too that I can make the round trips without a refill; but if I'm short a couple gallons, I'll have to refuel on the way back.

Just a possibility.

[dolanbaker]

What's the point of 2 gallons of gas? If you can't afford any more than 2 gallons at a time to put in your tank,you've already been priced out the market. You're living on economic borrowed time.

I can get about 80 miles with that!

[Nefarious]

I suppose its a niche, but on a full tank, there are a couple of places I periodically drive too that I can make the round trips without a refill; but if I'm short a couple gallons, I'll have to refuel on the way back.

On your way back do you stop and only put in two gallons?

[vision-master]

Filled up today! $2.50

putt - putt........ 125cc - lsol

[AgentR11]

On your way back do you stop and only put in two gallons?

I can't imagine why I would. Its not like gas will be notably cheaper tomorrow, nor do my fuel tanks leak, so I see no point in half filling a tank.

[vtsnowedin]

You can drive on the top half of the tank just as cheap as the bottom half or visa verse so unless you have a long way between gas stations it is a moot point. For all we know the woman was driving a Toyota Corolla or similar that gets 38 mpg and her daily commute could be just ten miles a day so two gallons lasts her all week. If gas goes to $4.00 this summer and on to $6.00 next summer etc. I think many of us will be compelled to move into just such a transportation situation.
I put $65 into my pick up yesterday at $3.90/g and that will go me three days. All well and good as long as the job lasts but the day it ends that truck gets put on a very short leash.

[Pretorian]

jeeze, I went to the cashier a week ago and gave him $3 worth of coins for gas, I wonder how many stories did it sprout.

[evilgenius]

Deflation simply will not happen due to the simple fact that if the demand isn't there, factories and stores will close their doors immediately. They will not take losses to save jobs.

That's about it. If the people don't have jobs then the velocity of money goes down. If the velocity of money goes down the money supply shrinks. If the money supply shrinks that meets the definition of deflation.

[vision-master]

The Long Emergency........

So, $6 gal gas could happen this summer?

The flood threatens to impact the Gulf of Mexico oil industry. Bloomberg News cited consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates LLC, which estimated Monday that southern Louisiana oil operations could be closed down, impacting 11 refineries that produce 13 percent of US output. “The worst case is that the Mississippi rises and we get actual flooding in the refineries and that could shut them down several months like we saw with Hurricane Katrina,” the firm’s president, Andy Lipow, commented during an appearance on Bloomberg’s “Inside Track.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/may20 ... -m10.shtml

[AirlinePilot]

Nah... they are going to flood Cajuns country so they can save the refineries! No sweat cher!!!

[nobodypanic]

It already feels like gas prices are leveling off. A little over $4 is all the economy can handle. After that people just stop driving because they are out of money and we get demand destruction.

gas prices which is linked to oil prices which has nothing to do with consumption in the US.

This is a global market.

of course it has something to do w/US consumption; after all, we are part of the global market.

how much is the rub.

[bratticus]

It already feels like gas prices are leveling off. A little over $4 is all the economy can handle. After that people just stop driving because they are out of money and we get demand destruction.

gas prices which is linked to oil prices which has nothing to do with consumption in the US.

This is a global market.

of course it has something to do w/US consumption; after all, we are part of the global market.

how much is the rub.

It wasn't about drivers in 2008 and it's not about drivers in 2011.

‘Peak Demand,’ Yes, But Not the Nice Kind
By Chris Nelder
Friday, March 5th, 2010

... Most people thought the nearly 2 mbpd decline in U.S. petroleum demand from 2007 through 2009 owed to efficiency and people driving less.

In reality, only about 15% owed to reduced gasoline demand. The other 85% was lost in the commercial and industrial sector: jet fuel, distillates (including diesel), kerosene, petrochemical feedstocks, lubricants, waxes, petroleum coke, asphalt and road oil, and other miscellaneous products.

Very simply, when oil got to $120 a barrel it cut into real productivity, and forced the world’s most developed economies to shrink. At $147, it wreaked serious damage. ... the new normal will be cycles of bumping our heads against the supply ceiling, falling dazed to the floor, rising back to our knees, then finally standing, only to bump our heads against the ceiling once more. ... The true import of peak oil, therefore, may not be sustained high prices, but economic shrinkage.

OPEC oil hit $120 in April and *kaboom*

[copious.abundance]

Well, here we are, it's mid-June and therefore, basically, "summer." Still awaiting that $6 gasoline!

LINK

Gasoline prices down for the fifth straight week, diesel prices higher
U.S. Energy Information Administration | Updated: June 15, 2011

The U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline fell for the fifth consecutive week, dropping almost seven cents to hit $3.71 per gallon. The average price is $1.01 per gallon higher than last year at this time. The biggest decrease came in the Midwest, where prices plunged more than 13 cents on the week. Other regions saw more temperate decreases. The East Coast and West Coast both saw average gasoline prices drop more than four cents from last week. In the Rocky Mountain region, prices were down almost three cents, while the Gulf Coast registered a two-cent decrease in gasoline prices.

[...]