Gas Price Watch

[BernardSmith]

Can anyone explain why gas is priced not to the penny but to the 1/10 of a penny and that 1/10 is ALWAYS .XX9? Is 1/10 of a cent a legal coin in the USA? Can I get two of them somewhere? I would love to see what they look like. Who collects and keeps the additional cents each time we fill our cars? I have never gotten change back in 1/1000 of a dollar... Is there anything else bought and sold to regular folk for their own consumption that is priced like gas? (Not natural gas, electricity, water, data)

 

[ibglowin]

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/ive-always-wondered/why-do-gas-prices-end-910-cent

 

[sour_grapes]

Is 1/10 of a cent a legal coin in the USA?

No, the smallest legal coin is 1/2 cent, which was produced from 1793 to 1857. It is still legal tender. (Unlike your native land, our currency never "expires"; it is still good for spending. Of course, you would be a fool to spend a half-cent coin!)

Your point about the $X.XX9 pricing is well taken!

 

[ibglowin]

Now down to $1.54 a gallon at Costco/SAMS in ABQ, NM!

 

[Runningwolf]

WOW and I was excited yesterday at 2.21

 

[2020steve]

Filled up Saturday Costco Sarasota FL. $1.85

 

[sour_grapes]

Now down to $1.54 a gallon at Costco/SAMS in ABQ, NM!

That's almost ludicrously low. Incredible. Adjusted for inflation, that is as low as it has ever been.

I just paid nearly $5 for a gallon of milk!

 

[ibglowin]

I think we have hit the bottom and now starting to climb back a bit. Now back up to $1.59 a gallon at Costco/SAMS in ABQ, NM

NOT Complaining still!

 

[richmke]

Former oil exec: $5-a-gallon gas on the way

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/01/19/gas-oil-five-dollar-gallon/21865975/

 

[ibglowin]

LOL

Saudi Prince: Oil will never return to $100…...

http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/12/investing/oil-prices-saudi-prince/

 

[richmke]

Saudi Prince: Oil will never return to $100…...

You trust what a Saudi Prince says? They are trying to break the North American Shale industry by crashing the price of oil. So he has incentive to trash talk the price of oil in order to get Shale Oil producers to give up sooner rather than later.

 

[ibglowin]

I don't trust either. I just thought it was funny that depending on who you talk to you have two completey different oil futures.

 

[Deezil]

They're sinking Russia in the meantime, with half of Russia's GDP coming from oil and gas, they can't hang with this a whole lot longer and still be a 1st world nation..

 

[sour_grapes]

They're sinking Russia in the meantime, with half of Russia's GDP coming from oil and gas, they can't hang with this a whole lot longer and still be a 1st world nation..

Russia has never been a first-world nation, they have always been a second-world nation. (This is not meant to be a pejorative opinion, just a statement of the meaning of "second world".)

The original meaning of "second-world nation" was political, and referred explicitly to the Soviet Union and its allies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_World

After the cold war, ahhh, cooled down, the meaning of the term "second-world nation" shifted to an economic meaning. Basically, it means "an industrialized, but not yet highly developed, economy." Sometimes referred to as a "developing nation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

Of course, they were then, and still are, a global power, and I would agree that that status is threatened by the falling price of oil.

 

[ibglowin]

Well the free fall is over and we have been slowly creeping back up over the last couple of weeks. Made a Costco run yesterday and filled up. Still pretty amazing price and not complaining!

Gas is now $1.77 a gallon at Costco/SAMS in ABQ, NM.

 

[joeswine]

Gas wars

I never understood why Europe's gas was so high being so close to all the sources?

 

[ibglowin]

Taxes mainly. Plus they have far superior mass transportation that is paid for by…….. those taxes!

 

[sour_grapes]

Mike is right, but it is also notable that North America produces a lot of oil, too. In fact, right now the US itself produces more oil than it imports (i.e., over half of our oil consumption is from domestic sources).

 

[ibglowin]

Well at least we did until the price of oil dropped below $50 a barrel. I think IIRC they need somewhere around ~$70 a barrel to make a profit on Shale oil, tar sands etc. Any lower and they will shut things down and wait for a price recovery.

In fact, right now the US itself produces more oil than it imports (i.e., over half of our oil consumption is from domestic sources).

 

[joeswine]

Gas wars

wouldn't it make sense to manufacture and reserve as well as become the leading producer??from a business stand point, it all come out in the end.