Gas Prices

[kjb434]

Good thing I filled up last Friday.

[banking214]

I am posting this everywhere:

www.gasbuddy.com

Helped me find the cheapest gas in my part of town. Hope this helps!

[RedScare]

Channel 13 just reported some Houston gas hit $3.51 for premium, $3.31 for regular.

A gas staion in Atlanta posted $5.87 for regular and $6.07 for premium, though most stations there are slightly over $3.00

[YakuzaIce]

Well since we have talked of how people may consider moving closer in when it gets high like this... Does anyone think we may see a large number of projects in the coming months?

[RedScare]

You will see some increased talk of moving into town, but I have noticed that the larger population is not very good at doing math. For instance, the talk is that housing is cheaper in the suburbs, but the tax rates are up to 50% higher, and transportation can be 100% to 200% higher, yet everyone is conditioned to say the city is so much more expensive.

Also, with a large number of jobs in the employment centers outside of downtown, not everyone would benefit from moving closer to town. I think most people will just cut down on eating out, while waiting for the price to go back down.

[kjb434]

^^

I think that is the most likely scenario.

There is a stigma to living in the city that it is more expensive. Currently I estimate that i'm saving about 20% over what I would be spending if I live in the suburbs. My office is between the loop and the beltway on US 290. Driving out is better than driving in for me. I also get out of paying the slightly higher property tax in the MUDs. Some city services are also cheaper. Garbage is free unless i need more cans (i know it's not technically free, but it's not a monthly bill to me).

In the end, i don't forsee a mass exodus from the suburbs to the city.

If the prices last for two to three years, you may see some movement.

The port in Louisiana that takes oil in from tankers what not affected by the Hurricane like New Orleans or the Miss Gulf Coast. The port is located in Lafourch Parish at the southern tip called Port Fourchon. Tanker stay out in the gulf and unload into a small plat form that is link to the sea floor. The oil runs in a large pipe to land. The oil is stored in large salt domes and some on land tanks that act as a buffer while oil is sent out to refineries by more pipelines. Some of Louisiana's refineries were as affect by the storm too. They'll be offline for a while though. The worst ones affected were the refninerie in Chalmette (eastern New Orleans) and in Pascagoula, Miss. Waters have receded in Port Fourchon and trucks are making it out there to check the facilities. Fly overs aren't indicating damage to the intake point out in the gulf. Further inspections are getting ready to take place.

Most of this information is coming from friends in the oil industry in Louisiana.

I'm worried about Atlanta since they are fed from the New Orleans and Mississippi directly through a pipeline. Getting that pipeline system back up and operational is critical.

The moratorium on fuel blends across the country will help for a while, but I don't think too much. The moratorium would be better to be permanent. It's one of the primary reasons gas is so expensive in California and Chicago before the huricane. I understand the need for a blend to lower emmisions from cars, but why have so many? California alone has 4. And all the fuel comes from the same two or three refineries. They have to turn on and turn off production to keep supplying all the different blends. Building two or three more refineries would help them a lot. More refineries across the country will help to keep the supply available, but this is more suited to once the oil situation in Louisiana is back up and running. We had enough oild comming in, we just could refine the portion that is used for gas fast enough to keep supply up.