I don't know how it is elsewhere, but since the announcement of the death of King Faud, diesel prices have jumped - big time.

One week ago I was paying $2.54 per gallon. A few days ago, it went to $2.59. Yesterday, it jumped to $2.71. Today it went to $2.79. I have seen nothing in the news about it - maybe because the gasoline prices have barely nudged up so far.

Makes me so effing angry that I can't have a 2.5L turbo-diesel Ranger for my work. It would get over 30mpg. Gasoline small truck 4x4s get about the same mileage as my 7.3 - or worse.

Oh, I'm in Southern California.

 

The EPA needs to relax some of the restrictions on the diesel exhaust. I fully agree with you on needing more diesel engines in the US.
You know this sort of stuff can be voted out by the citizens of the US if anyone has a creative idea that will be immune to the environmentally minded people.
Like maybe requiring 100% biodiesel compatablity in the diesels.

 

i HAVE TO put in my two cents on this... just one question for the *******s making all the money from selling fuel in this country.... why the f do prices need to go up when some clown who hasn't been the real ruler of his country for over ten years FINALLY kicks the bucket.... this is just sooooooooo much bull****....!

 

I was visiting a friend of mine who was in town from Wash. DC...

The subject of diesel prices came up and he said 90% of the increase was due to the war in Iraq.. Everything the armed services uses runs on diesel. Hence a shortage here. He is in the know so I can only assume he knows what he's talking abvout.
But again who knows..

 

i don't think that i agree with that... that guy who just died doesn't have a darn thing to do with us being in Iraq... but his death caused the price of crude to spike again... like i said... it's all bs... and anyone who tries to blame our military for this foolishness has his or her own agenda... and i'm not interested in that either....

 

According to a friend, who is an engineer for a railroad, Union Pacific uses 10 MILLION gallons of diesel a day - and there are more railroads. And then the trucking industry - and don't forget ships. And, don't forget that airlines use JP4, which is not much different than diesel.

I doubt sincerely that the operations of the Military in Iraq are more than a drop in the bucket compared to the real big users.

Agenda, anyone?

I did read that there were two fortuitously timed refinery fires last week and they may be contributing to the diesel spike.

Any excuse to boost the quarterly profits, no matter who gets screwed.

 

Yeh, and last fall the WSJ said that many oil companies were shipping their diesel to Europe because they could make more selling it there then in the good old USA. Diesel sells for about $4+ there, so bigger profits. This has certainly worked to drive up the prices here.

 

Well, I just returned from filling up the truck. $212.00 for 80 gallons.

 

did anyone ever wonder how the price of oil can go up today on stock market and up at the pump tomorrow. when they haven't even gotten the oil out of the ground yet.....

 

Well, color me surprised. I said the price went up 6 cents today. Well, that was this morning. By the time I got to the pump it was up ANOTHER 6 cents and now stands at $2.85 - at the cheapest station near my house. Three blocks down is one for $2.96....

 

....and the worst of it? I have a perfectly functional BMW motorcycle sitting in my garage - and I can't ride it because I mangled my knee.

 

You would think that the big oil companies would have contracts to supply so many barrels of oil a day for a set amount of time. If they needed more than they have contracts for then they would buy more on the open market each day as needed. This would put the number of barrels of high dollar oil that they use a small % of the total for the day. But it seems as if they pass the cost along for the day as if all oil being sold is at the spot price and jump prices that day for it. With a barrel being 42 gallons a price hick of 84 cents a barrel is 2 cents a gallon. I have read that 46% of a barrel is made into gas and only 6.8% as fuel oil. The price increases is more that the cost of crude from what I can see and the oil companies profits seem to show the same.

 

I took a business Management class last semester and the teacher told us that OPEC (a group of Arab biz men and countries that controls most of the oil), has an enormous amount of oil in reserve but only release it a bit at a time to maximize profits. If they were to release more it would drive the cost down. But that’s not what they want they are greedy @#$%erds!!!!

 

Just to chime in FYI it cost Saudi Arabia $4/barrel to get the oil out of the ground. Per one news story even after the royal family's cut of the profits the income level for so many citizen there is so high that they have basically forgotten what it is to have to work.

Also for every ~$10 rise per barrel in the cost of crude the top oil companies net a profit of $500,000,000. That is net!

Does anyone really believe that any of those companies have any interest in improving milelage or cutting prices. Even with the rise in prices summer time driving is up 5%. Why should they cut prices? Why should the president do anything? We are sending the message by our behavior that we really don't care.

People are still buying (large) SUV's and big trucks without good cause.

Look at so many of the posts here. Bragging about blowing smoke (inefficient combustion) or flooring it in a 7000# vehicle to race (show up) a car. Jacking a truck up so high that an atmospheres worth of air blows under it creating fuel robbing turbulence. Oversize tires - for highway driving? And on and on.

I have capped the top speed I drive in the truck to 65 mph unless passing and am presently doing mileage test to find the optimum speed/rpm. I am also feeling out that 2000 rpm limit I keep hearing about.

I am not against anyone doing whatever they want to their truck or driving it how they feel but understand that collectively we are sending a clear message to those that pump the oil, process it and sell the gas and diesel. The message? - We may complain but keep it coming as we've got the cash and obviously aren't willing to change out habits - at least not yet.

Just a fine point.

 

i will tell you all one thing... my driving habits HAVE changed becuase of the price of fuel... i left a better paying job and took one 4 miles from home instead of the 50 miles so 8 miles a day instead of 100... totally dictated by the price of fuel.... and i do not do ANY joyriding in my truck... i drive it to where i need to go and back... that is all.. and there have been NO weekend camping trips this year... no money to fill the tank to get there and fill it to get back... so.... while "afinepoint" is probably correct in his statement that summer time driving is up 5%... my driving is WAY WAY DOWN...! that's ok with me though... i have also saved money as i'm not putting the wear and tear on my truck... and i do 1 oil change now for every 5 i used to do... that saves ALOT of $$...!