Sunday, August 14, 2005

Gas Prices ... not a typical rant

I was reading about the gas price surge. I’m a little curious how the prices trickle down to the consumer. It seemed that no sooner were the crude oil prices announced in the news after the death of the King, suddenly the prices went up at the pump.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the stuff we’re pumping into our cars today was probably purchased elsewhere (Venezuela, Canada, domestic or from the Middle East) probably a month before. So if the price goes up, they’ll pass it along right away (to ease us into it?) but if it goes down, how long does it take for us to feel it?

But the thing that really confuses me is this quote from a CNN article:

“Our demand for gasoline is always highest for June, July and August,” she said of the summer months, when families typically take vacations. She [Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey] said gasoline demand is expected to taper off after August.

The average American, as near as I can figure is 16 miles each way. That’s 32 miles a day ... 160 miles a week. If it’s a two parent household, they’re racking up 320 miles a week. Now, where are these people going on these car-based vacations? Is that really a jump in gas consumption? Or is this just a line the petroleum industry has been feeding us? Is it that the vehicles we drive for vacation are just less efficient. I’m talking about those Winnebagos and cars with trailers. And while we’re at it, what about those non-car vehicles like boats, jet-skis and hell, lawnmowers.

This article from last week says this: Americans burn 11.959 billions of gallons of gas compared to 10.318 billion gallons burned on average per month. So if we have a consistent 14% jump in gasoline demand every August, why don’t the petroleum providers just plan better? Have you ever gone to the gas station in August and they had run out?

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:06 pm    

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During November it's all about me writing a novel. Sometimes it's about whalewatching. You know, and then there's other stuff.