Gas prices here and there - Oh my!

[Yzma and Kronk]

I just want to let me friends at The DIS know that I've now recovered from my heart attack after filling my gas tank the other night. The total came to $76.00

My story:

We left Canada two weeks previous for a drive down to Georgia. Gas was hovering at about 95 cents or so. Bad but not too bad. It was about $59.00 to fill if I was riding on fumes.

We go to the States. Gas had gone up from about $2.14 per US gallon in May (when we left Georgia to move here) to $2.41 when we arrived in Georgia for our August visit. Not too bad, about $34US to fill my tank.

I think back to November 01 when we moved to Georgia and gas was .74 cents per gallon - I kid you not! It was around 89 cent per litre in Canada at the time, and I went to fill my tank for the first time - $14.50 USD - wow!
The good old (not very old....) days!


Back to the present......

DH calls me from Toronto a few days after Katrina. Says, gas has gone up here this morning to over $1./litre. I check in Georgia - yup gone up to $2.89 per US gallon. Then all .... breaks loose! Some idiot starts a rumour in Georgia that the pipes are all broken, all the gas stations will close at 5pm until at least Friday........there is NO GAS. OMG what are we Georgian's to do as we are all a SUV lovin', gas hording, drive everywhere society. Within two hours the stations are lined up - it was amazing - some places over 150 cars deep! And at rush hour - blocking traffic, heated tempers, it's a wonder no one got shot! Maybe they did, but they don't tend to report that stuff down south.......but gas stations empty - disaster!

I'm sure Jimmy Carter was smiling that big 'ol teethy grin of his remembering the good 'ol days of the 70's when he as president faced gas shortages and line ups. This time it was not him who would face the rath, but GWB!

And the gas station owners (some of them anyway) see the frenzy happening out side their stations, and decide......ooops "price is wrong.....it should be $5.50+ per gallon"

The governor then declares a state of emergency over the prices.......meaning they will be allowed to charge anyone who puts the price up intentionally.

DH calls me in a panic.......go directly to the gas station, do not stop, leave what you are doing NOW, do not pass go, do not collect $200. You'll never get back to CANADA!

You gotta love CNN!!!!

I of course ignore him.

All is calm the next morning and gas stabilizes at $3.25 per US gallon. (wait a minute, it was $2.89 not but one day previous.......and I know for a fact no new gas got put in those tanks.......whatever!)

We leave Georgia, knowing that at least the pipe isn't broken and we will be able to get gas to get home. Prices are now $2.99 in Georgia. Who can keep track of this yo-yo pricing. The Governor took off the gas taxes for the month of September to help defray the costs..........oh OK.

I need to digress for a minute. What would happen to our prices if the Canadian government took off our gas taxes for a month.......

Ya, right.............

We arrive back in Canada to find the price keeps going up, up, up.

I wait........I'm sucking fumes........I fill up at the worst possible moment......hence my attack!!! $76.00 I yell - "GET OUT OF TOWN"!!

Maybe, but not literally - at these prices!!!

But today all seems better........Gas has dropped a little.

But who wants to bet that since we've seen it go over $1. per litre, it will always be over $1.

Heavens, the gas stations just all changed their signs to accomodate that extra digit. We wouldn't want to put them through the trouble to change them back. Besides with all the extra tax revenue the government is taking in (did I mention they took the tax off in the states to help ease the high cost........Yo, Ottawa......) wow they'll be able to fund another useless study or project.

Thanks for listening. I feel better now. Even more that I don't have anywhere to drive today....wow, think of how much money I'm saving

 

[maryliz]

Well said !!!! You know how you can "email this page to a friend", send it to your MP

MaryLiz

 

[mbb]

doing just that, maryliz, with the local gas prices thread I started...I mean, really, we have offshore gas/oil going *right by our house*, a refinery not 4 hours away, and we're paying - dare I say it - the highest gasoline prices in the country...

Right here in the Maritimes.

Drives me nuts.

Literally.

Welcome home - again! - Yzma and Kronk Glad you got back safe and sound

 

[eleanor]

This aft. gas in London was 1.09 and when we got to St. Thomas it was 1.29 ,now I ask you. How come the big difference in 20 miles?

 

[bigmac5]

We are from St. Thomas too. That difference can really add up

 

[CharlesTD]

I was watching W5 or something like that one night after work and they had one of the higherups from the refinery in PEI and the oil company/s there are subsidised by the provincial government there to help keep gas prices down. The refinery spokesman was going on about how they reduced output to slow production so they could drive the price up to where they though it should be now that should hold dome serious ramifications by the FED but I doubt it will ever get more than a passing comment.

 

[SnowWhite]

I hear ya! I am a driving instructor here in Peterborough and I cover the areas from Peterborough, Cobourg, Port Hope, and go as far as Oshawa with my students and it is amazing to see the differences in price. Here in ptbo the price is 1.24 per litre, but in Oshawa it is 1.17 per litre. There is usually a 4-5 cent difference between Port Hope and Cobourg and they are only 10 kms apart. These prices are ridiculous, of course the government is not going to take off the tax on the gas as they are making 39% of the price in tax money and did I mention that doesn't include the gst. That is both the provincial gov and fed gov. I put 1400- 2000 kms per week and it is certainly costing more in gas and will be passed on to the students in their course fees. Time to consider virtual drivier training.


Rob (Snowwhite's DH)

 

[Susan--Ontario]

It's crazy!!!!

On Monday it was $1.35 here. Then on Wednesday it was "on sale" for $1.229. Of course I filled up. Well, this morning it's $1.099.
Just gotta play the game. We always fill up at Canadian Tire to get the Canadian Tire money and the Sobey's coupons. Hey, for five bucks in coupons I'm there.
Maybe it will go down now that the States don't need our gas so much. We could start a thread about collusion in the gas industry, but that is really old news, because it's been going on since I worked there in the 80's.

 

[SnowWhite]

Well in Oshawa yesterday it was 1.05-1.09, in Port Hope it was 1.14, and in Cobourg it was 1.19 and the same in Ptbo. So for some reason there is a 14 cent difference in shipping to the Ptbo area? If one station sells 7000 litres a day that works out to $980.00 difference per day just for that station (the gas trucks fill up 2-3 stations per truck) The station I ran in the 90's did 3-4 million litres per year( I low balled the figures even and it is still making me sick). Most stations get gas trucks to visit 2 times a week. The bigger hwy stations maybe up to 4 times during busy travel times. So if a gas truck visits only two stations and they sell 7000 litres a day the gas company is raking in an extra $1960.00 just in one day. Yikes, feeling blood pressure going up.......better go now. Soon I will be teaching on one of these........

Rob (SnowWhite's DH)

 

[Hodder]

doing just that, maryliz, with the local gas prices thread I started...I mean, really, we have offshore gas/oil going *right by our house*, a refinery not 4 hours away, and we're paying - dare I say it - the highest gasoline prices in the country...

Right here in the Maritimes.

Drives me nuts.

Literally.

Welcome home - again! - Yzma and Kronk Glad you got back safe and sound

How much are you paying? Last week it was $1.48+ per litre here. As of today it's now $1.32+.

 

[CharlesTD]

London today was 103.5/litre

 

[bigmac5]

London today was 103.5/litre

My husbad was just at the gas station. Here in St. Thomas it is 1.10/litre--Why so much difference?

 

[MikeJ]

This aft. gas in London was 1.09 and when we got to St. Thomas it was 1.29 ,now I ask you. How come the big difference in 20 miles?

Hey, you guys brought it upon yourselves with that catchy slogan: "25% more life in St. Thomas." That applies to gas prices, too!!

- Mike

 

[bigmac5]

Thanks a lot.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

How much are you paying? Last week it was $1.48+ per litre here. As of today it's now $1.32+.

Yikes!

My blood pressure has gone down. It was $104./litre this weekend, but just up the road $1.09......go figure.

I just love those stations who cannot accomodate three digits.
For a brief moment I think the gas only costs up to 20 cents or so......then reality smacks me in the head

 

[Hodder]

Yikes!

My blood pressure has gone down. It was $104./litre this weekend, but just up the road $1.09......go figure.

I just love those stations who cannot accomodate three digits.
For a brief moment I think the gas only costs up to 20 cents or so......then reality smacks me in the head

And what a smack it is... LOL

DH started to car pool and I am not working right now so I guess it all helps.