Gas prices and Katrina

[CarolA]

Well, one thing to do would be to buy less gas... However, that would mean we can't all drive SUVs and trucks.....

 

[TNKBELL]

Having second thoughts about going next month! I just had to say, I for one don't blame President Bush, we have plenty of land to drill but that might mean cutting down a tree or two.

 

[Foladar]

Gas prices were hovering around 2.52 for about a week, up to 2.59 in a matter of hours and I've heard something about a possible 50 cent increase overnight
Might not drive from Miami to Orlando anymore, might be easier to Amtrak there.

 

[Renysmom]

Outside of Wash DC they are talking $3.00 - $3.50 by Friday.. Yikes.. but at least I have a home to heat, and a car to drive, my family safe and lots of food.. I will just adjust as much as I can.

 

[Chuck S]

Having second thoughts about going next month! I just had to say, I for one don't blame President Bush, we have plenty of land to drill but that might mean cutting down a tree or two.

Except that we actually do have a lot of oil...but it is "heavy crude" in Alaska and the US refineries aren't set up to crack it. More drilling in Alaska, trees or no trees, will likely result in more "heavy crude"...which we will sell overseas to Asian markets for less than we are paying to import "light crude" into our refineries. Heaven forbid that the big tax cut the oil companies just got be tied to upgrading their refineries to process "heavy crude" and develop better refining catalyst.

 

[Forevryoung]

Outside of Wash DC they are talking $3.00 - $3.50 by Friday.. Yikes.. but at least I have a home to heat, and a car to drive, my family safe and lots of food.. I will just adjust as much as I can.

Here (College Park Md around 8 miles from the DC border) jumped .30 in approximately 5 hours. It is 2.99 for regular gas. Hitting $3.15 for premium gas showed me "it's coming"- I dont drive much and I have a 1/2 a tank left but I'm scared

I cant afford to spend $40 to fill up my tank... not when I dont have ANY income (aka a college student)

 

[hmgolden]

Just saw this morning Bush approved the release of some of the strategic reserves...

 

[mainewmn]

On my way to work Maine prices hovered around $2.50 a gallon on my way home (only 8 hours later) they wore around $2.60 a gallon. That’s crazy! I just locked in our heating oil at $2.49 a gallon and I’m freaking ecstatic about that?! Last year I was complaining because I was locked in at $1.59 a gallon!

Today gas prices at the same stations hover around $2.70 to $2.80 but I saw one place that had gas for $2.92!

 

[RichNKatHolly]

$3.44 for regular here this morning! I should have gotten it yesterday for $2.79 but I was too tired to stop at the station. We will go NOWHERE until the prices come down.

I'm off to purchase a good pair of walking shoes.

 

[my3kids]

Up $.26 gallon here since Monday night. We pay $2.65 for regular.

 

[tikilyn]

Ugh.. Gas went up here to. Last night gas prices were 2.43 a gallon. This morning 2.99!!! That's a .56 cent increase over night. I have never seen a gas hike like this. This is scary. I'll have to start staying home more now and start stashing more money for our drive to Disney in September. I will be cutting it close with 400.00 for gas money that we already have saved up. Dh is talking about going across the border to get gas . Lately it's been cheaper over in Mexico.

 

[lorisnuts]

I live in rural Ohio. its a 2 hour drive to columbus, cleveland or toledo. Monday our gas prices were $2.58 (thats when I filled up) tuesday they went up to $2.79 now today I passed a station that was raising their prices again to $3.29!!! that is .71 cents in just about 2 days!!!!!!

 

[NJBlackBerry]

Guys, releasing crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) will not help anything in the short term. The SPR has crude oil in it - not gasoline. The crude needs to get to the refineries (some of which are under water) via pipelines (that do not have electricity to pump either crude or finished product). 10% of the countries refining capacity is shut down. 90% of the Gulf Of Mexico production is shut down and may be down for months.

And all crude brought up in Alaska (or anywhere in the US) must be refined IN THE UNITED STATES (and not shipped to "Asia"). It's the law.

We are in for a rough time with respect to pricing. Get used to $3 gasoline.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Here in Ft Worth Texas, our gas went up overnight also. From $2.59 to $2.86. I topped off this morning at Albertsons who was $2.66 with preferred card.

We are cutting off cable and DSL and going back to dial up at home. I have Hi Speed at work, so I will just have to deal with slower net access at home. We are so busy all the time, we don't have time for TV anyway and we are still keeping vacations in the budget.

Like others have said, we will adjust and be thankful for what we have. We normally drive to WDW and now with most of I-10 gone along our route and gas costs of $750 round trip, It will now be hard to beat flying.

One victim was quoted as saying they would rebuild and simplify. They had boats and jet skis that were washed away but he was thankful he had his family and insurance.

 

[TNKBELL]

This might change America...for the good! Imagine people getting out and riding thier bikes and walking to more places, carpooling to work and getting to know your coworkers, there is a silver lining to every cloud.

 

[Befferk]

This might change America...for the good! Imagine people getting out and riding thier bikes and walking to more places, carpooling to work and getting to know your coworkers, there is a silver lining to every cloud.

While I agree that these ideas are good, for some people like me, this is not feasable (although I wish it were ). Biking and walking anywhere for me where I live is at least 15 miles to the nearest store, 15 miles to work (and I have a 3 year old to transport wherever I go). And carpooling for my job doesn't work because we work such different hours in my office. I even thought about carpooling with my husband because our hours are similar, but I would have to be the one to keep the car (we work in different towns), and that wouldn't work because he has to be able to leave work to drive for the ambulance if they need him and for fires (he is also a firefighter/ambulance driver) and the money we would lose by him not being able to do these things would cancel out our carpool savings. We are stuck with the high gas prices I sure do hope that other people are able to make this work though. It is a great idea in the long run! Good for you for pointing this out.

Beth

 

[becca011906]

Here in Indiana in my very small town of 3,000 pop. and 6 gas staitions, prices were $2.59 for the past week or two, Monday night the all went up to 2.79 and some 2 of them were at 2.99. I'm not so worried about the prices of our vacation right now, i'm more worried about driving down and not being able to find any gas in GA or FL. And of course thoes that are most and worst effected by the katrina are in my prayers.

 

[Luv2trav]

This might change America...for the good! Imagine people getting out and riding thier bikes and walking to more places, carpooling to work and getting to know your coworkers, there is a silver lining to every cloud.

While I agree somewhat because it will slow down our lifestyle and we will stay home a lot more. I am not sure how I can bike ride or walk when there is 3 feet of snow outside or 15 degrees this winter.

 

[Luv2trav]

Guys, releasing crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) will not help anything in the short term. The SPR has crude oil in it - not gasoline. The crude needs to get to the refineries (some of which are under water) via pipelines (that do not have electricity to pump either crude or finished product). 10% of the countries refining capacity is shut down. 90% of the Gulf Of Mexico production is shut down and may be down for months.

And all crude brought up in Alaska (or anywhere in the US) must be refined IN THE UNITED STATES (and not shipped to "Asia"). It's the law.

We are in for a rough time with respect to pricing. Get used to $3 gasoline.

While I agree releasing the reserves will have little impact at least it shows the government is TRYING to help the situation... Just for morale we need to have faith in our government that they will try to alleviate some of the stress on it's citizens...

 

[Lizzydoll73]

Gas was $2.43 here on Monday. Yesterday it was $2.54 and I should have topped off my tank then. This morning my DH calls me on his way to work and says it's at $2.99. Luckily, as he drove a little further down the road Quick Chek had it for $2.69. He stoped and filled up for $26.00 then called me back because the guy said it would be going up today. I ran down and it cost me $40.00 to fill up and I already had a 1/2 tank. I am already considering a smaller vehicle when my lease is up. Scary thing is we are driving down to Disney in May and I am hearing that gas could be close to $5.00 a gallon by then.