Gas Prices Help

[NJCardFan]

OK, go with me here and someone please explain this to me:

Say, today, the price of regular unleaded gas is $2.50 a gallon and a price of a barrel of oil is at $50. Tomorrow, the price of oil jumps to $60 per barrel and gas jumps to $2.60. Next week, oil goes back down to $50 but gas only goes down to $2.58. Then, a couple of days later, oil goes back to $60 and gas shoots up to $2.70. How is this logical and how is this legal? Now, I'm all for the free market and all but these gas stations are ridiculous. Case in point, I literally saw gas jump 10 cents in a matter of an hour a couple weeks ago. I drove by and it was $3.29 and an hour or so later, I drove past it again and it was up to $3.39 an hour. By contrast, I never say gas go down in 10 cent increments. Ever. The worst part of it is, apparently there is a law in NJ at least, that says that gas stations don't have to sell gas lower than what they paid for it, which is all fine and dandy. However, when you see that they got a gas delivery one day and gas was listed at one price, yet the price goes up considerably the next day. So, does the law say that you can change the prices at your whim? Trouble is, they all have us by the short and curlies because it's not like we can run our cars on water. So, can someone explain this whole mess to me?

[fettpett]

Oil needs to be taken off the futures markets period...it's way to volatile and causes too many problems.

[lacarnut]

OK, go with me here and someone please explain this to me:

Say, today, the price of regular unleaded gas is $2.50 a gallon and a price of a barrel of oil is at $50. Tomorrow, the price of oil jumps to $60 per barrel and gas jumps to $2.60. Next week, oil goes back down to $50 but gas only goes down to $2.58. Then, a couple of days later, oil goes back to $60 and gas shoots up to $2.70. How is this logical and how is this legal? Now, I'm all for the free market and all but these gas stations are ridiculous. Case in point, I literally saw gas jump 10 cents in a matter of an hour a couple weeks ago. I drove by and it was $3.29 and an hour or so later, I drove past it again and it was up to $3.39 an hour. By contrast, I never say gas go down in 10 cent increments. Ever. The worst part of it is, apparently there is a law in NJ at least, that says that gas stations don't have to sell gas lower than what they paid for it, which is all fine and dandy. However, when you see that they got a gas delivery one day and gas was listed at one price, yet the price goes up considerably the next day. So, does the law say that you can change the prices at your whim? Trouble is, they all have us by the short and curlies because it's not like we can run our cars on water. So, can someone explain this whole mess to me?

Speedy can explain this better than me because he owned a gas station. From what I have read, station owners do not know what the price of the next delivery will be. So, rather than charging you based on the price they paid for what is in their storage tank, they charge the estimated price they think it will be on the next shipment. So it is possible that a gas station owner whose tank is 1/4 full and has a shipment coming in the next day may change his price during the same day because of co-mingling of the product. When prices are stable and their is no turmoil in the M.E., prices stay pretty much constant. When they are not, prices will go up because of fear. This happens in all commodities.

[Speedy]

A couple of years I used to own a gas station. Gas deliveries have to be paid in cash when the truck arrives. By law the retailer has to mark up the price at least 10 cents. The retailer has to take into account what the next load is going to cost, that is why he will raise the price arbitrarily upon news that prices may go up.

[noonwitch]

It went down about 10 cents a gallon here this week. Don't know why, though. It went from 3.50 to 3.39 at Meijer.

[Novaheart]

OK, go with me here and someone please explain this to me:

Say, today, the price of regular unleaded gas is $2.50 a gallon and a price of a barrel of oil is at $50. Tomorrow, the price of oil jumps to $60 per barrel and gas jumps to $2.60. Next week, oil goes back down to $50 but gas only goes down to $2.58. Then, a couple of days later, oil goes back to $60 and gas shoots up to $2.70. How is this logical and how is this legal? Now, I'm all for the free market and all but these gas stations are ridiculous. Case in point, I literally saw gas jump 10 cents in a matter of an hour a couple weeks ago. I drove by and it was $3.29 and an hour or so later, I drove past it again and it was up to $3.39 an hour. By contrast, I never say gas go down in 10 cent increments. Ever. The worst part of it is, apparently there is a law in NJ at least, that says that gas stations don't have to sell gas lower than what they paid for it, which is all fine and dandy. However, when you see that they got a gas delivery one day and gas was listed at one price, yet the price goes up considerably the next day. So, does the law say that you can change the prices at your whim? Trouble is, they all have us by the short and curlies because it's not like we can run our cars on water. So, can someone explain this whole mess to me?

I can't remember if its a state or federal law, but the law is actually that you can't sell gasoline for less than you paid for it. This is designed in theory to protect mom and pop gas stations from predatory retailers who would sell gasoline at a loss to kill other businesses.

Exxon/Mobil and presumably other major retailers also have agreements that they will not sell for less than a franchisee within a certain distance. So if Prabjabuta Exxon is charging $3.49 then Exxon Corp won't be less.

Mobil's pricing strategy is to be slightly higher than other brands and to promote the image that Mobil gasoline is higher quality, which according to them it is.

According to Mobil, all gasoline is not created equal because all oil is not created equal. Oil separates in the tanker and the top is the best. At the time I was told this, Amoco bought the top of the tanker. This was according to Mobil which maintained (internally) that its gasoline was superior to all but Amoco.

[lacarnut]

I can't remember if its a state or federal law, but the law is actually that you can't sell gasoline for less than you paid for it. This is designed in theory to protect mom and pop gas stations from predatory retailers who would sell gasoline at a loss to kill other businesses.

Exxon/Mobil and presumably other major retailers also have agreements that they will not sell for less than a franchisee within a certain distance. So if Prabjabuta Exxon is charging $3.49 then Exxon Corp won't be less.

Mobil's pricing strategy is to be slightly higher than other brands and to promote the image that Mobil gasoline is higher quality, which according to them it is.

According to Mobil, all gasoline is not created equal because all oil is not created equal. Oil separates in the tanker and the top is the best. At the time I was told this, Amoco bought the top of the tanker. This was according to Mobil which maintained (internally) that its gasoline was superior to all but Amoco.

I used to buy Amoco and was told that it is the best gas you can put in your car. The local Amoco station went out of business quite a while ago. We have very few independent gas stations around here as the majors have run them out of business.

Here are a few gas tips:
Buy your gas in the am when it is cool
pump the gas in the slow mode rather than fast
fill up when the tank shows half full
when you see a gas delivery truck pumping gas, come back later or go to another station cause the dirt and crud is being stirred up from the bottom of the tank and you do not want to pump that into your car.

[NJCardFan]

A couple of years I used to own a gas station. Gas deliveries have to be paid in cash when the truck arrives. By law the retailer has to mark up the price at least 10 cents. The retailer has to take into account what the next load is going to cost, that is why he will raise the price arbitrarily upon news that prices may go up.

That's insane.