As reported by Bloomberg today..

Gasoline pump prices may return to $3 a gallon in the U.S. this summer as demand recovers and conservation efforts in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita prove to be temporary.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...top_world_news

 

Back to $3, glad I have a hybrid.

 

This probably means Ford & GM's stocks dip, more layoffs, etc...hope they can crawl out of their hole....

 

Hmmm, hope I can save up for an Insight by then so I get one before thier prices go back up!!! The new ones don't have the color choices I want, or I would have bought a new one instead of the HCH. I am happy with owning the HCH, and expected the prices to go up soon. I figure it will be $5/gal in a few years, but no one I talk to agrees with me, they think it is outrageous. I have watched prices quadruple in the past decade, why not double again in 2-3 years?

 

Like this was a surprise. Demand never really decreased much, so why shouldn't gas prices follow the same pattern as last year. Katrina didn't help much but that alone wasn't the only factor for fuel costs.

Dear hybrid haters,

Enjoy your $3/gal gasoline.

Love,
S

 

Ahhh.....if only we could go back to when I first got my license and Hess reg leaded was 20 cents a gallon......and min wage was 1.60/hr...... It cost me $4 to fill up or 2.5 hours of work then. Now it costs me $20 to fill up or 1/2 hour of work.... Hmmmm....Seems better now doesn't it?????

 

I expect we'll see the $3.00 fuel sooner than the summer, especially if the U.N. invokes sanctions on Iran. In fact, (and this is only gut feeling I admit) I expect $5.00 fuel by the end of 2006. Once it hits $3.00, though, we will see conservation and hybrid sales spike once again, especially as the auto companies begin putting out more hybrid models.

Don

 

Now THAT is a bit skewed, eh? Min. wage is just over $6/hr ... cost me $27 to fill up (which would have been around $2.30 at 20 cents/gallon for the same quantity) ... that would be a little less than 4 1/2 hours of work now (a little less than 1 1/2 hours 'back in the day'). That is if you want to compare min. wage to cost of gas then and now.

If you want to relate your current pay rate compared to what it would have been back then in a very simple form ... $40/hr is around 6 times the amount of min. wage. 6 * 1.60 = $9.60/hr ... less than 15 minutes of work to fill up. So in reality it is more expesive today, 2-3x more expensive.

It takes me 2 hours of straight pay work, or less than an hour of work on Sunday (2.5 payrate) for me personally.

But I do feel for the ones making min. wage, and they usually don't have the money for the Hybrid, so they are really hurting ... making less money, costing more to live, not to mention the near impossibility of making rent, utilities, and still affording food and hygiene necessities ... even if your health is impeccable and that is considering everything else is perfect (no maintenance breakdowns of stove/shower/fridge/toilet/etc.) ... all the while oil companies make record profits. That is the sad state of affairs these days.

 

Unfortunately, this is all so true, and in the majority of cases, the situation cannot be helped. But for a whole load of people, it will put them in a world of hurt because of their high budget lifestyle.

For my family, I gloat. Only because we fill up only once per 3 months, and have planned our time and finances wisely. We saw this coming a long time ago and invested in hybrids and hybrid technology.

 

If you follow sports, a team loses 1-2 games, and the fans pronounce them DEAD, then they are suprized if they win six games. People overreact, then don't look past the next month. People have already forgotten Katrina - maybe dementia is more prevalent than we realize.