Damn it.

breitbart.com

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) - The average national price of gasoline rose nearly 12 cents in the past three weeks, marking the first price hike after six months of steady decreases, according to a national survey released Sunday.

The average price of regular gasoline Friday was $1.78 a gallon, oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said. The price of mid-grade was $1.91 a gallon and the price of premium was $2.02 a gallon.

The increase was the first since July 11, when the average national price peaked at $4.11 a gallon.

Of cities surveyed, the nation’s lowest price was $1.34 in Billings, Montana. The highest price was $2.32 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Maybe Barack Obama will authorize drilling in ANWR?

Sweet.

Daily Press

It looks like the Highlander is in and the Prius is out — for now at least.

Trucks and sport utility vehicles will outsell cars for the first time since February, according to a December report by Edmunds.com, which tracks industry statistics.

“Despite all the public discussion of fuel efficiency, SUVs and trucks are the industry’s biggest sellers right now as a remarkable number of buyers seem to be compelled by three factors: great deals, low gas prices and winter weather,” said Michelle Krebs of AutoObserver.com, a division of Edmunds.com, in a prepared statement.

“It was this summer that customers were concerned about the gas mileage. It hasn’t been a topic of conversation lately,” said Dave Lawson, the general sales manager at Pomoco Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Newport News. The majority of Pomoco’s inventory is SUVs, and its best-selling models are minivans.

Ed Morrissey states that Americans currently prefer sport utility vehicles over sedans and hybrids due to the lowered price of gasoline, as well as the fact that SUV’s provide more safety in crashes than cars, especially during harsh winter conditions.

Also, I believe Americans, especially males, prefer SUV’s over hybrids because SUV’s are much more cooler and stylish than dull and boring hybrids.

Which one of these vehicles will get me laid on Saturday night?

Or…

Hat Tip: Hot Air

It’s true!

My Way

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) - The average national price of gasoline fell 9 cents in the past two weeks, bringing it to its lowest point in nearly five years, according to a national survey released Sunday.

The average price of regular gasoline Friday was $1.66 a gallon, oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said. The price of mid-grade was $1.80 a gallon and the price of premium was $1.92 a gallon.

The last time gas prices dipped so low was in February 2004, Lundberg said, when the national average for regular was also around $1.66 a gallon. The all-time high was on July 11, 2008, when the price peaked at $4.11 a gallon.

Of cities surveyed, the nation’s lowest price was $1.37 in Cheyenne, Wyo. The highest price was $2.41 in Anchorage, Alaska. In the continental United States, the highest price was on New York’s Long Island, at $1.92.

Also, prices are at $39.58 for a barrel of light sweet crude oil.

I am not able to drive due to my eyesight, however, I am glad to see gas prices have lowered to 2004 levels.

Perhaps we will see $1.00-a-gallon gas next year.

Hat Tip: InstaPundit

The price of oil per barrel closed today at $33.87, but gas prices rose slightly this week.

The price for a regular gallon of gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.68.

The price for a premium gallon of gasoline rose 1 cent to $1.84.

The price for a barrel of light-sweet crude oil closed at $40.81!

The price per barrel of oil from July 11th’s oil closing price of $147.27. The price for a regular gallon of gasoline on July 11th was $4.12.

The price for a regular gallon of gasoline fell six cents from last week and is now at $1.77.

The price for a premium gallon of gasoline fell seven cents from last week and is now at $1.94.

Some good news…

Oil has dropped to $58.50 per barrel.

The price of oil per barrel has dropped $89 since the $147.50 close in July, 2008.

The price for a regular gallon of gasoline is $2.22 nationwide.

The price for a premium gallon of gasoline is $2.38 nationwide.

Gas prices in some parts of America are near $1.60 a gallon.

The price for a gallon of gasoline has fallen more than $2.00 since July, 2008.

However, the price of addiction to foreign oil will surpass $3,874,100,000,000.00 today. That number will continue to climb higher each and every day. Perhaps it is time to drill in ANWR and off the coast of Florida?

breitbart.com

NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices spiked more than $25 a barrel Monday—the biggest one-day price jump ever—as anxiety over the government’s $700 billion bailout plan battered the dollar and touched off frenzied buying of safe-haven investments including crude.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery jumped as much as $25.45 to $130 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before falling back somewhat to trade at $123.77,up $19.22. The contract was set to expire at the end of the day, adding to the volatility; the October price began accelerating sharply in the last hour of regular trading.

Crude has gained about $40 in a dramatic four-day rally that has at least temporarily halted oil’s steep two-month slide below $100. At this rate, crude is within striking distance of its all-time record of $147.27, reached in July.

The Nymex temporarily halted electronic crude oil trading after prices breached the $10 daily trading limit. Trading resumed seconds later after the daily limit was increased.

The huge rally was poised to shatter crude’s previous one-day price jump of $10.75, set June 6.

Oil’s sharp gains came as energy traders grappled with the implications of the government’s proposed $700 billion initiative to stem the U.S. financial crisis by absorbing billions of dollars of banks’ bad mortgage-related securities. Anxiety over the plan also sent stocks sharply lower Monday; the credit markets were calmer than they were last week, but still showing the effects of investors’ nervousness.

“They’re going to have to continue auctioning off a whole lot of Treasurys to finance these projects, so the dollar is going to suffer,” said Matt Zeman, head trader at LaSalle Futures in Chicago. “Right now it’s fear and anxiety driving people who want tangible assets.

The price per barrel of oil is currently at $120. This represents a one-day increase of $15.45.

The price of a regular gallon of gasoline is $3.74, and the price of a premium gallon of gasoline is $4.01.

NY Times reports that there is a gas shortage in the South. Drivers in Atlanta, Nashville and Tallahassee reported lengthy, gas-fueled quests to refuel. The shortage is expected to last for 1 or 2 weeks. Some of the refineries in Texas are not fully functional yet.

I see that customers are desperate enough to buy the crap gas offered at Citgo.

UPDATE 1: Oil is down to $108.86 per barrel. That is a $6.10 jump from today’s opening of $102.76.

UPDATE 2: CS News is reporting that Virginia is also experiencing gas shortages.

The Smoking Gun

SEPTEMBER 18–Spiraling gas prices led an Indiana drug dealer to levy a fuel oil surcharge on customers purchasing cocaine, according to investigators. Anthony Salinas, 18, tacked on the gasoline surcharge when he sold a confidential police source coke on two occasions in June. While arranging one buy, Salinas told the source that a quarter-ounce of cocaine would cost $240–$215 for the drug itself and “$25.00 for gas money to deliver the cocaine,” according to the court affidavit. Salinas, a Hammond resident, was named last week in a two-count felony information charging him with “dealing in cocaine.”

Awesome!

I do not blame Salinas for charging a gas surcharge. Oil is again and gas prices are creeping back up to $4.00 a gallon.

Oil opened at $96.18 per barrel this morning. Friday saw oil close at $101.18 per barrel.

Even with the price of oil per barrel falling, gas prices rose. Regular gas rose 22 cents nationwide to $3.88 per gallon and premium gas rose 23 cents to $4.16 per gallon. Fears that Hurricane Ike disrupted oil refineries long-term have caused gas prices to spike. However, refineries in Texas will be operational again within a week.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices plunged to a seven-month low Monday as the Gulf Coast energy infrastructure appeared relatively unharmed after Hurricane Ike and traders bet that Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy could ignite a massive liquidation of commodities.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $5.67 to $95.64 a barrel in pre-market trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier dropping to $94.41, the lowest level since Feb. 14.

Crude has fallen more than $50 — or 35 percent — from its all-time trading record of $147.27 reached July 11 as a global economic slowdown continues to weigh on demand for energy.

U.S. officials said Sunday that Ike destroyed at least 10 oil and gas platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico. But that represents only a small portion of the 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf and pales in comparison to the catastrophic damaged doled out by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita three years ago.

“Fears of widespread refinery damage have been allayed considerably and a number of facilities are coming back up in a timely fashion, so that’s pressuring energy prices across the board,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill.

Still, power outages along the Gulf Coast were slowing efforts to restart some refineries. Valero Energy Corp. said only one of its closed refineries had power, and spokesman Bill Day said he couldn’t estimated how long it would take to resume production.

As long as oil keeps trending downward, and oil refineries re-open, I predict gas prices to be at $3.00 per gallon by the middle of October. President Bush has authorized the release of 250,000 of oil barrels from the Strategic Oil Reserve in order to keep oil refineries on schedule. Florida Governor Charlie Crist, along with other Gulf State governors, will be authorizing their states’ attorney generals to file charges against gas stations and companies partaking in price gouging. The price of gas rose up to $6.00 per gallon in parts of Florida. The same price gouging phenomenon took place in parts of Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Chicago, Illinois.

Oil also dipped under $100 today! However, with the threat of Hurricane Ike, the price of oil went back over $100.

breitbart.com

NEW YORK (AP) - Crude oil on the futures market briefly sank below the $100-a-barrel Friday for the first time in five months—suggesting investors believe a worsening global economy will continue to drive down demand for some time in the United States and elsewhere.

The last time crude traded below $100 a barrel was on April 2.

Gasoline prices, however, jumped at the wholesale level as Hurricane Ike swept toward Houston, home to about one-fifth of U.S. refining capacity, and the site of a major fuel and grain distribution channel.

Wholesale gasoline prices on the Gulf Coast moved even further into uncharted territory to around $4.85 a gallon, as refineries anticipated that Ike would incur at least a significant pause in their operations, and at worst severe damage to their facilities.

The price of regular gasoline went up 1 penny this week from $3.67 to $3.68.

The price of premium gasoline went up 1 penny this week from $3.95 to $3.96.

There are reports of price gouging all over the country, especially with Hurricane Ike looming off the coast of Texas. The price of gas in California started at $3.90 this morning, and in some parts of the state, the price has raised between $5.15 to $5.50 per gallon! There are also reports of price gouging in my home state of Florida. Governor Charlie Crist says that the price of gas is “unconscionable”.

Yikes!