When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I only use Mobil gas for the daily driver and the Mustang. I seem to find that they and Sunoco are among the highest, but there's a reason for that.
I'm fussy and I will not switch over to a different type of gas. But, yeah, it's getting more and more expensive.
I did a little research form 2016- 2020 and the national gas price never went above 3 dollars a gallon. That's nationally.
You are safe with Exxon too if in your area. Since the Exxon Mobil merger I have a feeling it's the same fuel from the same refineries. Same with the Chevron Texaco merger back in 2000.
Did a little more research on this topic... there's another couple of things going on here...
Pandemic caused the people to not go anywhere as things were shut down, and so that caused price of crude to tank (ha!) and production to be slowed down as a result of lessened demand.
Texas being hit with that winter storm recently shut down a lot of refineries, so that's also causing a supply issue.
Along with 2, the refineries in general have been hit with the pandemic causing them slowness/shutdowns too.
Couple those with the pandemic receding (both in mandates expiring and vaccinations happening), the demand's going to go up as people start to move around more, and that means higher prices to keep people from overly using it ("Maybe we don't need to make that trip..." is a thing they actually want to build in, and that's been that way for decades now.)
Summer blends start happening, and that drives the price up automatically.
It's not just Washington. It's everything. If we get more production, oil prices can come down. If we don't use the gas, gas prices can come down. If we can get the refineries back up, supply shows up, gas prices can come down. Supply/demand is more the effect than any other shenanigans in Washington, but that doesn't mean those aren't involved too.
Thanks for comin' to my Ted talk.
Those all contributed, but I have not paid this much for gas in years.
I'm thinkin' that inflation is part of the 'not paid this much' thing, as well as 'today dollars vs yesterday'... I mean, until the gas crisis of the 70s we were paying 39 cents for gas or less, per gallon! (well, not me, I wasn't driving, but still, you get the idea.)
BTW, that $0.39 in '72 would be $1.62 in 2015 dollars, as shown in the table, which would be $1.82 in today's dollars (as of this post.) (Still would rather, right? Right!)
The worst pricing in that table is $3.80 in 2015 dollars in 2012, which is $4.35 today. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
If you wanna run those numbers yourself.
So I think maybe possibly yes, you did spend as much for gas in years, but you don't consider the other factor of inflation which skews the numbers quite a bit. Also skewing, the region you're in... because man, if you're in California... for premium... Over $4 as of this post. https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/
Interesting side note... Diesel is more expensive in Hawaii than California. Weird, right?
---
Following the numbers in that table in the first link, since '72 anyway, is... interesting.
(Note that these are pricing increases/decreases in the time's dollars, not todays, nor compared to any CPI or GDP or anything like that, just the price per gallon in that year per year.)
Nixon's in office from '69 to '73. Things are stable on the price per gallon. Went up a penny, big whoop, in '70. OPEC embargoes, whereupon gas had a little jump in '73, then leaped up in '74 and kept on goin' up... The National Speed Limit of 55 MPH happens in '74. Ford somewhere in there becomes President. The CAFE happens in '75. Carter's elected in '76, takes office in '77. Things just kinda creep up on the gas pricing...
And then in 80... ow. I mean ow. Inflation had gone nuts, so it wasn't just gas, but even still, by 'today' dollars it was quite the leap up compared to previous year's. Carter (siphons greatly) obviously, so Reagan was elected and he fixed things right? No, not so much. It kept getting more stupid until his third year in office. That's interesting, to be sure. Still, in 1983 it receded a little, sorta leveled... then it fell off a cliff in '86, which is also interesting as it leads up up to the '88 Election and GHWB's presidency...
It then remained kinda steady-ish for a while, mostly through the Clinton years too, until amazingly enough, two years before the election of GWB in 2000... I see a pattern, and I probably shouldn't... whereupon it went down again... That doesn't looks suspicious in any way, nosirs/madams... but anyway, he gets elected, it goes back down. Yay or something. Except it immediately jumps back up 50% (comparatively) the year of the election. Yeah. Not sus at all, nope. Surely it'd stick...
Then Obama is elected, and the era of $3.00+ gas is born. It gets down to $2.50 levels, sure, but mostly that $3.00.
Then Trump's in office, but the chart stopped before that, so... I'd have to go look those up, but it's obvious to me the overall factor causing the gas prices being stupid today. I mean, anyone can see it now.
/Point really was today's prices versus yesterday's is skewed, just like box office grosses aren't adjusted for today's dollars either, so it looks better and such. Gone with the Wind wins this, btw, if adjusted, and Avatar is like 7th.
^^ Interesting. I thought CA would have been first. Any time we have driven through PA on our way to New England the gas prices didn't seem too bad, yet in CA we always noticed the high prices.
I was curious where my own state was and came across this site. They show CA a bit higher than PA. I think there may be different formulas. It also might depend on what date the last survey was done. This one was July 2020. In any event, the taxes are high. Gas Tax Rates by State | 2020 State Fuel Excise Taxes | Tax Foundation
The chart is accurate enough, seems. Texas is shown as 20 cents per gallon. The federal government poses an 18.4 cents per gallon on top of that for a total of 38.4 cents per gallon, and that's been posted on the pumps since I can remember noticing it over a decade ago.
Diesel is taxed at 24.4 cents at the federal level, by the way, so you're paying 44.4 cents per gallon of diesel in Texas, as Texas takes that 20 cents either way. It appears that some states allow local taxing as well, but Texas is not one of them. That could explain the PA vs CA discrepancy on who's taxing reigns supreme.
Look at how much the *PRE TAX* pricing is for that gallon of gasoline in Cali. Quite a bit. I had to make an excel sheet to do the calcs, as it's 50.5 cents for one tax, 18.4 cents for feds, 2 cents for storage, and 3.6% on the pretax pricing for each gallon, on average, for local taxes. Their 3.15 price example breaks down to 2.18 per gallon pre tax.
However, I looked up current (as of this post) pricing on LA gasoline, and find it to be $3.60 for regular. This means the pretax price for that gas is about 2.62 per gallon, today.
So then I looked up for Houston area, and today, the price of 1 gallon of regular is about $2.50. We already know 38.4 cents is tax on that, because that's the price on the pump. 2.499 - 0.384 is $2.115. Call it $2.12 per gallon
(Please note, different areas have higher/lower pricing in the same city, as they do.)
So California is also paying more for the gasoline than Texas is. Looks like it's 50 cents more there than in Texas. I'm guessin' it's transportation costs, because all the rest is already added up and accounted for.
So there's that on top of it all. Whatever y'all wanna do with that info, there it is.
SO,.....I am incorrect. The National average of price per gallon is not over 3 bucks. Yet,............
I apologize for that. I'll see if I can see what it is at so far for 2021.
Yep I fill up in Delaware every weekend and then drive the week in PA. I can usually make it back to Delaware before I need a refill. Save myself between 20-30 cents a gallon that way.
Be glad you live in the USA that's all i have to say in vancouver,bc Canada gas prices are on the rise more than you think our prices change every 30 mins here and we pay per liter here so at last look 87 octane here was $1.549 times that by 4 and we already pay $6.21 a gallon,89 Octane is $1.619 which is $6.50 per gallon and the 91 Octane is $1.719 which is $6.88 per gallon and the 94Octane i run is at $1.859 which is $7.45 per gallon. you guy complain at $2.50-3.50 per gallon i do not feel sorry for you at all my van takes 100 liters of fuel and the car 67 liters of fuel to keep them both with gas in them costs me approx 300 canadian dollars per month on top of my insurance for both cars ... funny thing is we pull the raw bitumen out of the ground ship it to the usa where it's refined and then have to buy it back..i have always said that canada was a wimpy country for import/export/ and we always get walked on but Canada needs to grow a set and refine the fuel up here then sell our overstock elsewhere but we have a guy in charge up here by the name Justin Trudeau or as i call him screwdeau. he has NO backbone and and bends over like a slinky toy
and on top of that our prices change every 30 minutes here....or drive 15 minutes and it's totally changed again
don't get me started on car parts 140%to 300% markup just to bring it into canada and tag an import tax and exchange rate on top of that and canada is really getting screwed
Last edited by 14Mustang_Driver; 3/22/21 at 12:52 AM.
Be glad you live in the USA that's all i have to say in vancouver,bc Canada gas prices are on the rise more than you think our prices change every 30 mins here and we pay per liter here so at last look 87 octane here was $1.549 times that by 4 and we already pay $6.21 a gallon,89 Octane is $1.619 which is $6.50 per gallon and the 91 Octane is $1.719 which is $6.88 per gallon and the 94Octane i run is at $1.859 which is $7.45 per gallon. you guy complain at $2.50-3.50 per gallon i do not feel sorry for you at all my van takes 100 liters of fuel and the car 67 liters of fuel to keep them both with gas in them costs me approx 300 canadian dollars per month on top of my insurance for both cars ... funny thing is we pull the raw bitumen out of the ground ship it to the usa where it's refined and then have to buy it back..i have always said that canada was a wimpy country for import/export/ and we always get walked on but Canada needs to grow a set and refine the fuel up here then sell our overstock elsewhere but we have a guy in charge up here by the name Justin Trudeau or as i call him screwdeau. he has NO backbone and and bends over like a slinky toy
and on top of that our prices change every 30 minutes here....or drive 15 minutes and it's totally changed again
Ouch!! We have taken many vacations to Canada in our Mustang and I can't remember prices that high. Even in the remote areas of Alberta we didn't pay that much. Our last trip was to Nova Scotia in 2016 and it was nowhere near that. Perhaps the gas taxes went way up?? We can't visit any time soon anyway until this Covid crap ends.
From what I found on-line, there are only 14 gasoline-producing refineries in Canada (17 refineries in total): 6 in western Canada, 4 in Ontario, 2 in Quebec, and 2 in the Atlantic Provinces. I certainly agree about having more of your own refineries. It's not going to happen with your current political climate however. Not here either..
On the bright side of life, you still have Tim Horton's while we have 'frozen' Dunkin Donuts. Krispy Kreme here in the south is still good though.
might have free healthcare but all appointments are done over zoom calls now......my brother-in-laws cardiologist only does phone appointments...like i asked how do they diagnose if there is an issue over a phone.....so unless you are 100% healthy don't expect a doctor visit anytime soon...my doctor goes in the office 1 day per week and patients are picked like a lottery if you can see him and then you have to mask-up sanitize yourself and put on a gown
2016 was a different animal than it is now... i have seen 87 octane as high as 1.659 per liter a couple years ago just after i bought my car then i sat back and thought what did i do $6.64 per gallon only works out to 70 dollars per tank but when it's that high you pick and choose what car to drive luckily i have 2, i gets pretty good mileage but the mustang gets better mileage, gas prices did come down last year but not to anything dramatic but like i said once anything comes across the border you pay dearly for it
might have free healthcare but all appointments are done over zoom calls now......my brother-in-laws cardiologist only does phone appointments...like i asked how do they diagnose if there is an issue over a phone.....so unless you are 100% healthy don't expect a doctor visit anytime soon...my doctor goes in the office 1 day per week and patients are picked like a lottery if you can see him and then you have to mask-up sanitize yourself and put on a gown
IIRC, isn't healthcare free only for basic coverage?
That's for sure, and the people in Washington are trying to do what ever they can to grab power and run.
Agree with you there. So much going on to make it look like the people are in control, but they are shifting everything to take our control away and keep the current party in power. Making it easier for them to stay in power and hide their shenanigans. Very dirty and sneaky stuff going on.
we are getting into dangerous political territory in this thread, that belongs in the politics section . . . but yeah I am amazed at how many people are all-in for the huge federal government power grab currently in progress
we are getting into dangerous political territory in this thread, that belongs in the politics section . . .
What are you talking about, 'getting'? We been there, friend! Just it ain't been moved yet. From your post number 3, really, we been right up in the politics of the thing.
3/14/21, 06:25 AM
and I can't remember prices that high. Even in the remote areas of Alberta we didn't pay that much. Our last trip was to Nova Scotia in 2016 and it was nowhere near that. Perhaps the gas taxes went way up?? We can't visit any time soon anyway until this Covid crap ends.
while we have 'frozen' Dunkin Donuts. Krispy Kreme here in the south is still good though.
*ponders how long it'll remain so... I mean... political talk and all...*