GAS PRICE LOGBOOK

[N6OIL]

$4.15 Lenwood/Barstow Calif.

[WF7A]

Price of gas is no problem if you drive one of these: http://www.wimp.com/drivingcar/

It's pothole filler here in Austin.

*ba dum*
"Did you feel something?"
"Nah, it was something one of the tires ran over."

[N2EY]

My riding lawnmower is bigger than that car!

My push-lawnmower is bigger - and probably has a bigger engine!

73 de Jim, N2EY

[N2EY]

But in UK, if U drive a few miles, it is a long long drive. Here in USA, driving 100 miles is a typical ride.

Nope and nope. All depends on where you are. The USA is quite diverse, as is Great Britain.

I will be going 4400 miles here in a few weeks. You would have to encircle the British Isles many many times to log up that kind of mileage.

Not really. From one end of Great Britain to the other is well over 800 miles by road. Two-and-a-half round trips would reach 4400 miles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land%27...hn_o%27_Groats

and that's not "circling many many times".

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It's your choice to go to Dayton.

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To G4OTU: You must recall that in these former colonies of yours, complaining is an art form and viewed as an inalienable right. The classic British WW2 slogan "Keep calm and carry on" wouldn't catch on here.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[G4OTU]

Nor here any more - the complainers have won the day.

[K9ASE]

That is because the cost of gasoline has very little to do with how close you are from the nearest refinery. Also it implies that you buy just the brand of that nearest refinery?

I know but it sure shoots the heck out of the "delivery cost argument". Also all stations don't have their own refinery. They buy Gas from other refineries.

[N0SYA]

Just heard it's over $5 in Chitcago.

[K9ASE]

Just heard it's over $5 in Chitcago.

I'm not surprised a lot of it is local taxes though.

[WA6TKD]

I know but it sure shoots the heck out of the "delivery cost argument". Also all stations don't have their own refinery. They buy Gas from other refineries.

While I worked at a refinery, I don't know what the true cost of delivery was per station, but the CEO when asked once at a employee meeting said it added just a few cents to the cost of a gallon. He also noted that when the company was selling cute little toy cars under the brand of the company that they made more profit from selling a single toy car then the profit from a single tank of gas. Most stations need to sell all that other stuff, beer, food, snacks, smokers, to actually compete with other stations as the profit margin on the gas alone would not be enough to support the business. Hard to find a station anymore that doesn't sell other stuff also. Many refuse to believe that the major oil companies operate at rather modest profit margins, rather just hugh volumes of sales make the total profits seem unfair somehow. That McDonald's corp has a larger profit margin then a large oil company just doesn't fuel the hate big oil agenda that many have been raised to believe, or want to believe.

As far as where stations gets their gas, if it's a 'branded' station it does come from that companies refinery/distribution system, no matter the distance from the nearest refinery. Only the independent stations are free to contract with many different oil companies and at time can have to pay more then the branded stations pay and other times pay less, as supply/demands cycles change. And yes the gasoline is pretty much identical, except for the additives where each brand has it's own patented/trademarked additive package. Gasoline is not a single chemical component but rather a recipe that varies with seasonal vapor pressure regulations and other specific state clean air requirements, including federal and state mandated methanol (corn based) additions.

[N2EY]

Most stations need to sell all that other stuff, beer, food, snacks, smokers, to actually compete with other stations as the profit margin on the gas alone would not be enough to support the business. Hard to find a station anymore that doesn't sell other stuff also.

Around here, I see three kinds of stations:

1) The stations that are as you describe - gasoline plus convenience store and/or car wash.
2) The stations that sell only gasoline, but sell a LOT of gasoline. They are usually very small in size, and busy as heck.
3) The stations that sell gasoline and service. Yes, there are still some. They survive on local customer loyalty.

Many refuse to believe that the major oil companies operate at rather modest profit margins, rather just hugh volumes of sales make the total profits seem unfair somehow. That McDonald's corp has a larger profit margin then a large oil company just doesn't fuel the hate big oil agenda that many have been raised to believe, or want to believe.

A big part of the problem is that most people really don't understand how complex a process it is to find oil, extract it from the ground, transport it, refine it, deliver it and sell it - in massive quantities. And do it all safely and without service interruption. Even the former governor of Alaska, a major oil producer, didn't know that there are many different kinds of crude oil.

What people do know is that oil companies are big business and make big profits. And that oil executives make big money. And that a little shift in the wind for almost any reason drives prices up.

They also hate the very idea of changing how they live - driving a more-efficient car, driving less, driving smarter. Those things are - unAmerican!

Truth is, McDs profit margin on soda pop is enormous, while the typical oil company profit margin isn't.

As far as where stations gets their gas, if it's a 'branded' station it does come from that companies refinery/distribution system, no matter the distance from the nearest refinery. Only the independent stations are free to contract with many different oil companies and at time can have to pay more then the branded stations pay and other times pay less, as supply/demands cycles change. And yes the gasoline is pretty much identical, except for the additives where each brand has it's own patented/trademarked additive package. Gasoline is not a single chemical component but rather a recipe that varies with seasonal vapor pressure regulations and other specific state clean air requirements, including federal and state mandated methanol (corn based) additions.

That last bit has a lot to do with price, too. In many places, gasoline sold near a city is a different blend than gasoline sold outside a certain distance - for pollution reasons. Can make a big dent in the price.

There's also the volume issue. Some older stations have relatively small tanks, so they need more deliveries and may not take a whole truckload. (Around here, those stations are almost gone).

The big issue, IMHO, is simply that Americans have long been used to cheap gasoline, so when the price rises they have a fit.



73 de Jim, N2EY