How high can gas go?

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Baked

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
If the gas does go up to $4.00 a gallon, I'm riding a bicycle to work permanently. No way in hell I'm paying $50.00 to fill up my Jetta. That'll be $200 a month just in gas.

It's $4+/gallon here in Cali already. No way I'm riding the bus or bike to work. The most I'll do is walk to the train station from home (15 min walk or 2 miles) and back. Bus is BAD! Getting run over by cars while riding the bike is worst!

Its already costing me roughly $33 to fill my Corolla, but my work situation doesn't allow me to take mass-transit most of the time because I work in many different locations.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: Baked

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
If the gas does go up to $4.00 a gallon, I'm riding a bicycle to work permanently. No way in hell I'm paying $50.00 to fill up my Jetta. That'll be $200 a month just in gas.

It's $4+/gallon here in Cali already. No way I'm riding the bus or bike to work. The most I'll do is walk to the train station from home (15 min walk or 2 miles) and back. Bus is BAD! Getting run over by cars while riding the bike is worst!

Its already costing me roughly $33 to fill my Corolla, but my work situation doesn't allow me to take mass-transit most of the time because I work in many different locations.

I remember the first time I put $20 into my Corolla, several years ago..

My MR2's last fillup was $33..

 

[miketheidiot]

i don't know how much higher gas and oil can go before the bubble pops.

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal

Originally posted by: Aimster

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
If the gas does go up to $4.00 a gallon, I'm riding a bicycle to work permanently. No way in hell I'm paying $50.00 to fill up my Jetta. That'll be $200 a month just in gas.

Lol I pay $350 a month to fill up my SUV
now probably $400

I can't comprehend why anyone would own a vehicle that costs that much to operate. Why not use public transportation or ride a bike?

City mentality. A very good portion of the United States lives either in a somewhat rural area or in a sprawling city. We're not addicted to cars; we need them, unless we're all going to pack up our bags and move.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal

Originally posted by: Aimster

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
If the gas does go up to $4.00 a gallon, I'm riding a bicycle to work permanently. No way in hell I'm paying $50.00 to fill up my Jetta. That'll be $200 a month just in gas.

Lol I pay $350 a month to fill up my SUV
now probably $400

I can't comprehend why anyone would own a vehicle that costs that much to operate. Why not use public transportation or ride a bike?

City mentality. A very good portion of the United States lives either in a somewhat rural area or in a sprawling city. We're not addicted to cars; we need them, unless we're all going to pack up our bags and move.

Yeah..this isn't exactly bicycle territory.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
People said the 3 dollar "psychological barrier" would be huge when it was broken, and nobody ended up really caring when it happened.

Of course people care. Consumer confidence was recently measured at an all-time low.

As the cost of gas goes up, the cost to commute goes up, the cost to travel/vacation goes up, the cost of food and other goods goes up, and people spend less money on non-essentials.

People are just putting gas ahead of other things. And those "other things" are leading to massive job cuts, declining industry profits, and contributing to the recession we're in.

 

[ctark]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
How high can Exxon's record breaking profits go?

The answer to both questions go hand-in-hand.

The same profit margin along with increased demand equals increased profit. I hear this argument so much and its one thats not really valid.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal

Originally posted by: Aimster

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
If the gas does go up to $4.00 a gallon, I'm riding a bicycle to work permanently. No way in hell I'm paying $50.00 to fill up my Jetta. That'll be $200 a month just in gas.

Lol I pay $350 a month to fill up my SUV
now probably $400

I can't comprehend why anyone would own a vehicle that costs that much to operate. Why not use public transportation or ride a bike?

A few people actually need those SUVs for their job. Most don't and made an economically bad but very trendy decision when buying their new SUV some years ago.

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Edit: I own a Mazda6 I4/'04 that gets about 24mph, but only fill it once a mth. That's the great part.

24 mpg and only 1 fill-up a month? Why don't you just walk?

 

[Eeezee]

I'm just glad that I live with a 15 minute walk to work. But then again, I'm in grad school.... so work doesn't really pay well at all

The problem I have with higher gas prices is that IT RAISES THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING ELSE. We use gasoline to transport practically every consumer product in existence from one point to another.

We're in for rough times one way or another, but I don't think high gas prices could cause a depression without a lot of other factors also contributing. People are just going to spend more on gas, and others will drive less. Our electricity is mostly coal, so no problem there (except transporting the stuff , of course)

 

[Ballatician]

Originally posted by: ctark

Originally posted by: jpeyton
How high can Exxon's record breaking profits go?

The answer to both questions go hand-in-hand.

The same profit margin along with increased demand equals increased profit. I hear this argument so much and its one thats not really valid.

What if its really an increased profit margin with the same or possibly less demand?

^ also equals increased profit.

 

[senseamp]

Biking to work rocks, but only because my city is bike friendly with bike lanes everywhere.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

ehhh..it already hit $4 about a week ago here, sigh... The cheapest I've found near me is around $3.84 or so.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
People said the 3 dollar "psychological barrier" would be huge when it was broken, and nobody ended up really caring when it happened.

Yep, in fact the only barrier broken is the idea of an arbitrary gas price limit. $2 didn't do it, $3 didn't and $4 won't, either. I Paid $3.79 a week ago for my 93. I won't do anything. If it gets up to $5 I won't do anything, either. I do already calculate the price of gas on optional drives and may possibly lump them together, but driving hasn't changed much since most of it is mandatory. I do imagine poories (that's poor people) are getting squeezed fairly hard. It is affecting the economy, of course, but there is definitely no hard qualitative point.

Demand for gas is relatively inelastic and it has few readily available substitutes. That means that changes in the price of gas have relatively little effect on the demand for gas. Thus, you will buy almost as much gas @ $2 a gal as you will at $4 or $5 or $6 or more.

Yep. ALthough over time the use of cars (like big SUVs) can change it, in the short term it won't move, which is why gas use is similar now to how it was when it was $1/gallon. Some large car manufacturers are hurting, though, and some people are cutting back A LITTLE BIT, but not much.

 

[sportage]

All the media is focusing on that $4 mark.
By this time 2009 $4 will seem like a bargain.
Just try to imagine a figure of $7.85 on the gas pump.
So much for all the hype about energy independence
from every president since..... Washington?


PS...

We will have moved onto alternative energy sources long before that point.

You're kidding, Right? :roll:


Just a little fun facts...
@ $7.85 a gal x 10 gal tank = $78.50
50 gal suv tank @ 7.85 a gal x 50 gal = $392.50

 

[Colt45]

It would have to go to $10+ overnight for any real amount of people to riot. A quarter here, a dime there... people are to pacified to do anything, not that much can be done.

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: sportage
All the media is focusing on that $4 mark.
By this time 2009 $4 will seem like a bargain.
Just try to imagine a figure of $7.85 on the gas pump.
So much for all the hype about energy independence
from every president since..... Washington?


PS...

We will have moved onto alternative energy sources long before that point.

You're kidding, Right? :roll:


Just a little fun facts...
@ $7.85 a gal x 10 gal tank = $78.50
50 gal suv tank @ 7.85 a gal x 50 gal = $392.50

$392.50 is no where near a mortgage payment. And yes, once the cost of gas gets high enough alternative energy will be much more viable (economically) than it is today.

 

[skace]

I would think people would have to be paying 100s at the pump before they snap.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
I wonder how long it will take for the people shouting "NO WAR FOR OIL!!!" to be shouting "WAR FOR MOTHERFUCKING OIL!!!"...

:roll:

the american people were promised by the president that, for the first time in the history of earth, a war would pay for itself. obviously, that's going swimmingly....

does anyone actually think a war to aquire oil would add to the amount available, or drive costs down?

 

[chin311]

it hasnt gotten totally crazy for myself, fill up about 4-5 times a month @ about 10 gallons , so say...32-35$ a time...isn't terrible

glad i get 28-35mpg

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: ctark

Originally posted by: jpeyton
How high can Exxon's record breaking profits go?

The answer to both questions go hand-in-hand.

The same profit margin along with increased demand equals increased profit. I hear this argument so much and its one thats not really valid.

Exxon/Mobil Yearly Profits
2002: $11.5 Billion
2007: $40.6 Billion

So basically you're saying demand has jumped 253% since 2002?

 

[IL2SturmovikPilot]

I'd be surprised if it could go up past $5.00 a gallon before things get out of hand.

 

[ForumMaster]

meh. gas here is already around 6.4 NIS a liter. that's 24.25 NIS per gallon. the dollar to NIS conversion rate is low now, but that's $6.7 per gallon.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: ctark

Originally posted by: jpeyton
How high can Exxon's record breaking profits go?

The answer to both questions go hand-in-hand.

The same profit margin along with increased demand equals increased profit. I hear this argument so much and its one thats not really valid.

Exxon/Mobil Yearly Profits
2002: $11.5 Billion
2007: $40.6 Billion

So basically you're saying demand has jumped 253% since 2002?

Imagine this....


Exxon gets charged $22.81 (2007 inflation adjusted) for each barrel of oil in 2002.

Magically, that oil goes to $64.92 by 2007.

That means that if they sold the same amount of oil in 2007 as they did in 2002, then their profit would jump massively, right?

Then, since it takes the same manpower to refine and sell that oil, their fixed costs are lower per $ per barrel. If that's true, then the profit margin % would increase somewhat.

Since oil skyrocketed in the later part of 2007, profits would be boosted even more then.

It's not exxon's fault for passing on costs to customers, nor is it their fault for running a correct business.

 

[Pliablemoose]

There was a study a few years ago that suggested there wouldn't be much of a change in US buying/driving habits till it hit $5/gallon.