On my way home this morning.
Is it me or are gas prices going down?
I know that it was $0.06 more this weekend than it was this morning. With Hurricane Rita making people predict $4 and $5 gallons of gas, I was a little surprised, though not disappointed after putting 22 gallons into my truck.
What Say Ye?
Prices here in my neck of the San Francisco Bay Area were pretty much unchanged during both hurricanes, and are still the same. Over the past couple of years, whenever it gets below $3/gallon we’re happy. Best price around here at the independent near me is $2.97. The Shell next to it is $3.05, but that’s par for the course.
They’ve gone down about 6 cents in two weeks in Portland.
This proves my case about the Balkanized petroleum industry. Dispite the total refining capacity being cut by Rita by as much as 25%, none of that gas (or that shortage) should have ever affected the PacNorWest, because we brew our own here, and have no capability to send any to the Gulf Coast.
This lack of rise, when the overall shortage is 3 times as bad as with Katrina tells me that the Katrina price hike was 100% pure gouging, up here in the upper left corner anyway.
Especially since the Congress is holding hearings as we speak on price gouging…
In the PacNorWest, gas prices went up 35 cents, so a 6-cent drop is just a start on getting rid of the gouge.
I noticed an 11 cent a gallon jump in propane prices though, and that’s a “sympathy hike” because natural gas is going up 15% in a couple of days. Another gouge.
Sorta makes me yearn for Jimmah Cahtah. > (bitch-slaps self to lose the illusion of price controls).