Good question. Does Indonesia produce much oil? Maybe it's subsidised.

 

lanbrown and all, I'm a co-founder of the Gasbuddy websites (and I own a 01 Yellow Stook, which is why I'm on this board!). If no-one does anything about gas prices, the major oil companies will be able to charge what they want. It seems that the general trend is upward, but we want to slow that trend over time. We want to stimulate competition. Have you ever noticed a price at one station, only to drive down the street and to find out that it's 10 cents+ cheaper? I just saw this yesterday. Two stations that we less than a block from each other differed in price by 12 cents. I've seen differences of over 25 cents between two stations that were less than 3 miles apart. Since we have a S2000, it doesn't seem like too big of a deal (unless you're driving in VTEC land all the time!), but if you have a SUV with a 30 gallon tank, you could save nearly $8 on a fill of gas. I'd drive a little out of my way to save this much!!

We don't expect people to drive 10 miles out of their way to get gas, but how is anyone supposed to know whether gas is cheaper near home, or near work? This way, you can find out where the cheap gas is. It is possible to SAVE several hundred dollars per year on gas.

Gas prices are higher elsewhere in the world, but people in the US and Canada are somewhat shocked by the relatively sharp increase in the cost of fuel. Gas was $0.83 in 1999 here in the Twin Cities, and now it's $1.80. This doubled our fuel expenses. If the cable company suddenly doubled their rates, people wouldn't be happy either!

We intend to use wireless technology so that you can get prices from your car too.

If anyone has any question feel free to contact me: jtoews@gasbuddy.com

Jason

 

OPEC is the one who controls the price, they are the ones that sell the majority of oil. There is no competition in a cartel. The SUV's are the problem of why gasoline prices are higher. The average fuel economy of the vehicles sold now are at a 20 year low. Add to it that there is more vehicles on the road now then 20 years ago, and you have a very strong demand for oil. Let the owners of the SUV's pay more. The drive a vehicle that comsumes more fuel and it's the nature of the beast. By driving out of your way, you comsume more fuel, creating a higher demand and as such, higher prices. What if everyone drove five miles out of the way? In SUV land, if that was round trip, it would be a gollon of gas. Multiply that by the millions of them on the road and you have a much higher demand.

Lance

 

I don't disagree with your points here. The oil producers in the US and Canada are not part of OPEC. However, OPEC controls so much of the worlds supply of oil that the domestic producers generally follow OPEC's lead. The price of oil is actually lower right now than they were last year, but the price of gas is just as high. Where's the extra money going? The major oil companies have astronomically high profits right now. They just blame it on OPEC. Maybe OPEC is not totally to blame for high prices.

We don't expect people to drive 5 miles out of the way to fill up with gas. We hope to help people save money by letting them know that it is 10 cents cheaper on the next block. This is not uncommon in some cities. I plan VBALL tonight, and by looking on http://www.TwinCitiesGasPrices.com, that gas is cheaper near the place when I play. So, instead of filling up near work, I'll wait until tonight to fill up so I can save 15cents/Gallon.

If for nothing else, it's interesting to find out that gas is cheaper/more expensive 15 miles away!!

Jason

 

I don't know how it is by you, but here it's $2.50 for a 2.5 gallon bottle of Arrowhead. That's $1 per gallon and it's $2.05 per gallon for 92 gas at Chevron.

David

 

On my way to work this morning I was listening to the radio and was stated for Chicago-land area that by the end of June, premium was going to be at $3.00/gallon and $4.00/gallon by the end of the summer.

I forsee many more SUV's being sold in IL....and many more Honda Insights being sold.

what I may do, is buy up the Insight stock and monopolize the sale of them when the gas "crunch" comes knocking.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by naishou
[B]Good question.

 

I am a little surprised to see such a concern over gas prices. A couple of reasons for my concern. First, we drive sports cars, not econoboxes. Although, at 20-28 mpg, we certainly fall closer to the latter category than the former. Second, as a previous poster mentioned, we in the US have amazingly low gas prices. Gas prices throughout the rest of the world are significantly higher. This is not because of the cost of gas to those nations, but instead because of a gas tax. Often the tax is 200-300 percent of the actual cost of the gas. I for one, wouldn't mind if Dallas tacked a gas tax on (they can't for legal reasons) so that our roads would get in better shape.

Now, if I drove an SUV, well then I might be feeling a bit of a pinch. But then again, noone made me buy a car as impractical as the S, and I don't complain about the lack of cargo space. No one made them buy a gas guzzler, they shouldn't complain either. My $0.02

 

another one from http://www.ilovebacon.com - this one, found in New Orleans.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by itsjustme
[B]I am a little surprised to see such a concern over gas prices.