DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Holy Crap! Sub- $3 gas!

$2.74 I-270 and Georgesville Rd

Woohoo, finally dropped below $3 here! I got it for $2.97, then a couple hours later it dropped to $2.91 at the same place. Oh well.

Is Cheaper Oil A Good Thing?
By Vivienne Walt / Paris Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

How far can it fall? People have been anxiously wondering as they watch the plunging stock market. But increasingly the same question is being asked about another crucial figure: the price of oil. It has plummeted nearly 40% in just three months, from about $147 a barrel in July to below $83 on Friday, with no obvious bottom in sight. If that sounds good, you are probably a driver who winces these days at filling your gas tank. But the downward spiral could mean trouble for oil-rich countries and for the environment.

Oil analysts admit that most of them failed to predict how fast oil prices would drop. Just a few months ago, some were saying oil might reach $200 a barrel by year's end. "The analysts have been quite surprised by the pace and volatility of the decline," says David Fyfe, senior oil analyst for the International Energy Agency in Paris, which as a rule does not predict oil prices. "The volatility has been quite marked."

This year's sky-high oil prices are partly responsible for the drop. Since oil hit $100 a barrel for the first time early this year, Americans (who consume one-quarter of the world's energy) began cutting back. When gas began selling above $4 a gallon, American consumers made "a psychological shift into the sense of crisis and a sense of permanence," says Greg Priddy, oil analyst for the Eurasia Group in Washington. Instead of believing that gas prices would finally fall again, many began changing their daily habits — they started driving the smaller car in a two-car garage or consolidating shopping trips. That has meant a huge slump in Americans' gas use. Even before the market meltdown, Americans consumed 800,000 barrels of oil a day less during the first half of this year than the same period last year. As demand fell, so did prices, and as prices have fallen, investors have begun pulling money out of the oil market, fearing a collapse, says Leila Benali, an expert on Middle East oil for the Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Paris, adding: "People are getting nervous about demand next year. There is talk of a global recession."

For oil-rich countries the slump has come at a bad time. As the oil price began rising during the past few years, governments and big oil companies plowed billions into exploring and developing new fields in Russia, Angola, Mexico, Brazil and Saudi Arabia — projects whose costs have more than doubled in the past few years, in part because soaring steel prices drove up drilling equipment costs and oil-rig rentals. Just as global demand has begun to slow, millions more barrels of oil a day from new fields have hit the world market.

The big oil producers have good reason to be nervous. Many are still haunted by a disastrous error made at an Opec meeting in Jakarta in 1999, when the cartel — which produces more than a third of the world's oil — opted to raise its production levels. Within weeks Asian stock markets tumbled, driving world oil prices down to $11 a barrel. Oil officials in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere have cited that price crash as the reason they've rebuffed pleas from President Bush to pump more oil. Says Benali: "Countries have learned the lessons of the past."

Though oil-producers and environmentalists rarely agree about anything, both groups have done extremely well from sky-high oil prices during the past year. The high price at U.S. gas pumps has pushed both Barack Obama and John McCain into making the development of alternative fuels and electric cars key elements of their campaign platforms. But if gas prices continue to drop, those initiatives might begin to seem unnecessarily costly to many Americans. (Time's Bryan Walsh reported this week that some countries are already reviewing environmental initiatives as gas prices fall.) "If gas prices drop under $3 a gallon, it will be interesting to see whether it saps the political will," says Priddy. "Americans like their sprawl and generally don't like to give those things up."

If oil producers have their way, oil prices could start rising again. Their growing anxiety erupted early this week, when Iranian and Venezuelan officials warned that if Opec waited much longer before cutting its output, it could face another massive price collapse. On Thursday, Opec officials scheduled an emergency meeting in Vienna for Nov. 18 rather than wait until the cartel's scheduled summit in Algiers in early December. In the meantime, the world's biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabia — which increased production in the summer — has already begun loading less oil on its tankers, according to global oil figures.

For some countries there is a fear far greater than an economic recession: political turmoil. Iran, which earns 80% of its revenues from oil exports, set this year's budget on the assumption that oil would trade at $90 a barrel — a figure which seemed conservatively low until recently, but which is now above the world price. "If the price stays there a while Iran would cut spending," Priddy says. That might include cutting heavy gas subsidies for Iranian drivers, who have rioted in the past when the government tried to ration gas or raise the price at the pump. Hugo Chavez could face similar problems in Venezuela if oil prices drop below $75 a barrel — the rate at which the country calculated this year's budget. The problems lower prices could cause in those countries could be more visceral than those posed so far by the current financial upheaval.

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Hmmm...you can never get comfortable with your profit margins. Ever. Too bad for those other countries. Ours is going through hell, too, and I couldn't give a flip about what price per barrel they set their budgets.

Down to 3.09 here

It's simple: If you're not OPEC, this is GOOD for you.


Keep on Fallin', oil!

Coming home from Sandusky this evening i got gas at 2.55 at the Meijer station on rt 250

nordawg

That's awesome, hopefully when I fill up next weekend we can see that around here. Need to drop another .40 since the average price here seems to be $2.96. Saw $2.91 down at the truck stop.

Supposedly, according to websites, there are a couple stations around here for 2.35, but not close enough to warrant the drive. Otherwise, it seems we are averaging 3.09 right now.

And honestly, I won't drive out of my way to save .10 or .20, just not worth the time and extra gas to save $3-4.

I see its down to $2.49 in Mentor.

It's still 3.09 here

It's times like this that I ask myself what the guys from Animal House would do

ROADTRIP!!!!!!

TOGA, TOGA, TOGO

It's still 2.99 here

$2.19
Reynolds Rd near Industrial Pkwy in Mentor, OH.


What are the odds of being able to change this thread title to

Holy Crap! Sub - $2 gas! ?????

Place your bets....place your bets.

Still 2.75 here

$2.41 in Akron(Chapel Hill) and $2.62 in Cuyahoga Falls today.

Exactly, people could travel more, which in turn means more hotel rooms sold and restaurants used. I am hoping that the gas prices keep coming down for my upcoming trip to the Carolinas.

Not too mention that the cost of transporting everything get lots, lots cheaper

Milk prices will go down, the cost of wheat, wood, and anything plastic... the costs on moving and producing raw materials.... EVERYTHING.

$2.32 in my city. I need to get about half a tank so I hope it's still that or lower in the morning.

Quote:

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$2.19
Reynolds Rd near Industrial Pkwy in Mentor, OH.

---

What station is this? I live off Lost Nation and work on Tyler Blvd in Mentor and I have no clue where this is

I filled up at $2.67 at Sheetz on 306 last night. looks like I shoulda waited for today from the looks of it

I jumped back up yesterday to 2.78 here

It's 2.69 - 2.99 for regular here depending on the station.

Well that's crap. Why is there so much of a difference between Cleveland and Youngstown areas?

Because we always get crapped on around here

$2.48 here, right on campus at OSU.

I think the thread needs renamed.

I went by a station and it is now $1.97 in Westlake!!

(Maybe the Browns will win the Suprebowl this year...cause it looks like hell just froze over.)

Still $2.59 here...

Dying to see it drop further.

Daaaamn. It's still $2.43 right near where I work as of last night, which was the cheapest I've seen. It was $2.45 last night down the road from my house.

There's several places with it down under $2 !

http://www.clevelandgasprices.com/

I paid $2.19 yesterday.

Can somebody gimmie a rough estimate on how much a tanker truck of $2 a gallon fuel would run me?

http://www.gasbuddy.com/ or http://www.ohiogasprices.com (same website just for Ohio though)

That's a great site to check out if you're looking for cheap gas prices. It can get pretty local too.

For example, DP017 that site shows the Sunoco at 590 Fifth Ave & W Scott St had 2.39 regular gas last night at 5:30.

$2.19 @ Speedway on 20 in Mentor last night.

Good stuff!