It is amazing, economic-law defying, illogical, too good to be true, but it is! The best part is that it is at a gasoline station near you right now! Yes, it’s time once again for BushCo. Oil to hold its semi-annual, pre-election day fire sale on gasoline. With demand steady if not rising slightly, and seemingly significant supply concerns on the West Coast, one could expect prices to be having a hard time holding steady. Not to worry, BushCo is one step ahead and prices, (in case you have been too distracted by the ABC/Disney flap to notice) prices have been in free fall!
More after the flip
Just a few weeks back, wholesale prices of gasoline according to Bloomberg topped around $2.29 a gallon. About the same time in Ann Arbor Michigan, Regular topped at about $3.16 a gallon. Today the numbers are $1.64 per gallon wholesale, $2.43 per gallon for Regular at the pump in Ann Arbor. That is some significant price reduction–about 23% at the pump if my limited math skills are correct.
Obsessed as I am with theories about the vast right wing conspiracy Hilary used to talk about when they were killing her universal health care concept, I quizzically inquired as I paid a mere $16 for my weekly fill up to a fresh-faced, alert-looking young man at the cash register, “I don’t understand the gas prices. What is this, a pre-election day sale?”
The young man did not hesitate or blink an eye as he took my money. “Absolutely” he replied. We talked a bit more. The only thing his company has told him is that gas is down because we have a “surplus”. He went on to speculate that it could drop as low as about $2.00 by November!
Where is the surplus coming from? Does somebody, anybody, have a rational explanation for this? My best guess is that GW has a little sweetheart deal cooked up with the Saudis. Just a guess, and I could be very wrong. Tell you what though: I might be persuaded to put up some serious dough betting that gasoline prices in this country will take a rather sharp turn in the opposite direction sometime after election day and before the end of the year. Any takers?
I may have to move back to Ann Arbor. I spent $2.91 today — but it was down from $3.09.
Yeah, for sure gas prices are being manipulated for political purposes. I guess it is our little treat for having to listen to two months of disgusting political ads.
Now, can you please explain airline pricing to me.
Now, can you please explain airline pricing to me.
No one can explain airline pricing. It was originally devised by a sadistic madman, with subsequent changes made using a Ouija board, random paragraphs of Kafka and Joyce’s Ulysses fed into a WWII era code-breaking machine on loan from MI-5, with a dash of chaos theory, the Kaballah, the I Ching, and random numbers picked out on a calculator by a pigtail macacque (Macaca nemestrina) in exchange for bits of tropical fruit.
But somehow the answer keeps coming up 42.
I hear the same “program” is now being used by the Pentagon to plan strategy in the grand War on Terra. “It must be good! We paid 87 billion dollars plus for it!!”
have been all over the place here in Canada.
“Y’all will probably blame the US of A for that, too!” </snark>
Seriously, though, it’s probably because the oil companies expected problems in the supply due to hurricanes or the Middle East, and stockpiled gas. But then the weather stayed OK (so far), the wars haven’t hurt supply (so far), the Alaska pipeline problems seem under control, and Joe and Jane 6-pack stayed home this summer because the home equity line is all tapped out. So they’re selling off the excess.
And helping their Republican friends just before the elections.
It’s possible to have somewhat rational economic reasons mixed with political ones at the same time.
Except where airline pricing is concerned – no rationality there at all, LOL!
LOL…I just got gas with a friend and notinced prices were way down and joked about election season.
It’s just so bloody obvious! :>)