Gas prices drop because of the BEAST (71)?

[Greg Needel]

now we know how 71 can afford all their robots

Malfunction Cuts Gas Price to 29 Cents
By Associated Press

Mon May 22, 7:20 AM

HAMMOND, Ind. - When a pump at a gas station malfunctioned, opportunistic motorists were able to buy gas for 29 cents per gallon.

A Marathon station sold a gallon of fuel for less than the price of a first-class stamp for about 90 minutes Friday before the mistake was detected and and the price corrected to $2.79.

While still answering questions from customers about why the price had suddenly gone up, clerk Nida Tayyab said more than 50 people had crowded the store, likely thinking the mishap was a price promotion, and received the bargain. Normally, the station serves about 10 people per hour.

"I was really confused," she said. "It was so messed up. I can't explain here how it was."

When Tayyab figured out what was going on, she called her father, who works at another store, for help fixing the situation.

"It's fine now. It's all working," Tayyab added.

[TheLostRenegade]

$2.79 -- Thats still a deal compared to the $3.30 (more or less) that I pay to add fuel to my car...

[JVGazeley]

You really don't want to know how high our Petrol prices are over here. If I converted it into US Dollars per Gallon, I'd frighten you cos I wish it were as CHEAP as $3.30

[Cory]

Originally Posted by JVGazeley

You really don't want to know how high our Petrol prices are over here. If I converted it into US Dollars per Gallon, I'd frighten you cos I wish it were as CHEAP as $3.30

Yeah, but you guys have excellent public transportation, so it's much easier to get around with minimal use of a car. Around here, if you need to get somewhere in a short amount of time, you don't much have a choice.

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Cory

Yeah, but you guys have excellent public transportation, so it's much easier to get around with minimal use of a car. Around here, if you need to get somewhere in a short amount of time, you don't much have a choice.

that doesnt make any sense - if they have an excellent public transportation system then demand for gas should be lower (easier / cheaper / better to take the bus or rail)

if demand was lower then gas prices should be lower

someone in GB is tinkering with the laws of supply and demand

[Mike AA]

Originally Posted by JVGazeley

You really don't want to know how high our Petrol prices are over here. If I converted it into US Dollars per Gallon, I'd frighten you cos I wish it were as CHEAP as $3.30

but if I recall from what my fiance said, you also get much better quality and higher octane. She's from Germany.

-Mike

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

that doesnt make any sense - if they have an excellent public transportation system then demand for gas should be lower (easier / cheaper / better to take the bus or rail)

if demand was lower then gas prices should be lower

someone in GB is tinkering with the laws of supply and demand

Most European countries also have much higher gas taxes, and (in many cases) less domestic oil production than the US. I'm sure there are many other valid reasons why gas is more expensive across the Atlantic, but those are two I know of.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by JVGazeley

You really don't want to know how high our Petrol prices are over here. If I converted it into US Dollars per Gallon, I'd frighten you cos I wish it were as CHEAP as $3.30

Go ahead, educate us!

[lukevanoort]

Originally Posted by Mike AA

but if I recall from what my fiance said, you also get much better quality and higher octane. She's from Germany.

-Mike

Sort of, across th pond, they use a slightly different method of measuring octane. You can get higher octane but their, say, 98 octane isn't what 98 octane would be here (that's almost race fuel in the measurement system here) its more like 94-95 octane here. The US government also doesn't tax gas anywhere near as much as they do over there. (Same with vehicles, if my memory's correct)

[Pat Fairbank]

Originally Posted by Jeff Waegelin

Most European countries also have much higher gas taxes, and (in many cases) less domestic oil production than the US. I'm sure there are many other valid reasons why gas is more expensive across the Atlantic, but those are two I know of.

Maybe the price difference across an ocean makes sense, but I'd be interested in knowing why gas is so much more expensive in Canada ($1.00 - $1.15 CAD /L translates to about $3.75 - $3.90 USD /gal). It's not like we need to import all our oil.

[IraJason]

Part of the reason why gas is so expensive overseas is because most countries have a huge tax on their gasoline. This causes it to be 4 - 5+ US Dollars a gallon. Our gas is cheap compared to quite a few places.

[JVGazeley]

Originally Posted by Cory

Yeah, but you guys have excellent public transportation, so it's much easier to get around with minimal use of a car. Around here, if you need to get somewhere in a short amount of time, you don't much have a choice.

Oh, I wish... by bus it takes me an hour and 10 mins to get to College, a journey that takes 25 mins by Car.

Originally Posted by KarenH

Go ahead, educate us!

Originally Posted by IraJason

This causes it to be 4 - 5+ US Dollars a gallon

Back in January, I worked it out as $6.30 per US Gallon over here... I would need to work it all out again with the current exchange rate to be accurate but it's still going to cost about double what it does over there. We pay about 95p per litre around here.


EDIT: UK Average petrol prices hit a 5 month high on Tuesday of 91.1p per Litre, which is 344.8p per US Gallon. With the current exchange rate of £1 = $1.88475 (BBC, 12:00 BST 24 May 2006), I work that out as 649.96c (or $6.50) per Gallon

[Tim Baird]

Originally Posted by JVGazeley

EDIT: UK Average petrol prices hit a 5 month high on Tuesday of 91.1p per Litre, which is 344.8p per US Gallon. With the current exchange rate of £1 = $1.88475 (BBC, 12:00 BST 24 May 2006), I work that out as 649.96c (or $6.50) per Gallon

The consistency in your prices is amazing, though. Last time I was in London (April '04), the average price that I saw around the area was about 85p/L.

Over here, we get teased with gas prices. One day it's $2.30, we get hit with hurricanes and it shoots to $3.50, then it drops back to $2.45, then it's back up to $3.00. You never know how much gas will cost!

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally Posted by Tim Baird

Over here, we get teased with gas prices. One day it's $2.30, we get hit with hurricanes and it shoots to $3.50, then it drops back to $2.45, then it's back up to $3.00. You never know how much gas will cost!

One could make an argument, however, that selling gas in liters would make the price appear to be less volatile, however. Since a liter is ~1/4 of a gallon, a change of 4 cents in a gallon of gas would only be ~1 cent in a liter. Thus, while the change would be the same in total cost for a full tank, it would (falsely) appear to be less of a change in the per-unit cost.

[JVGazeley]

Yep. By the way, although 91p is the average, it varies depending on where you are. I looked at the prices at the Petrol stations on my way home last night and I saw prices between 95 and 99.9p per litre.