# Gas will be under $1.00 again **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151 "2006-05-02T20:39:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/1 "2006-05-02T20:39:24Z")
I believe that gas will be under $1.00 again, at least for a little while. Impossible, you say? I didn’t say $1.00 per gallon. I think some forward thinking station will switch to liters before they put a price over $4.00 up on that big board. $0.99/ liter = $3.75/ gallon So, I think we’ll likely see gas prices under a $1.00 again, and definitely see the $1.30 price we had back in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/2 "2006-05-02T22:21:55Z")
I predict that converting from gallons to liters **isn’t** something that will happen anytime soon. First, we Americans don’t believe in the occult, space aliens or the metric system. Second, it would cost a fortune to convert all of those pesky gas pumps… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/3 "2006-05-02T22:27:51Z")
Talk over here is that we’re just about to hit £1 per litre. I remember also when it hit £1 per gallon, back in the '70s. So it’s not out of the question. But perhaps not in America. (Though converting all the gas pumps might make good use of all those oil profits…) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/4 "2006-05-02T22:28:54Z")
Americans will grumble, howl, and yell about $4 per gallon gasoline. Americans will burn down gas stations that convert to the metric system. Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/5 "2006-05-02T22:48:48Z")
Ha! As soon as I saw the thread title, I thought $1? Maybe if we switch to litres! Brilliant! I don’t think $4/gal will be that har to swallow _on the way back down_ from the $5/gal I think we’ll be paying by august. My prediction is that we’ll hit 4 in june and spend the summer creeping up every weekend. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/6 "2006-05-02T22:51:56Z")
> [@Danalan](#): > > $0.99/ liter = $3.75/ gallon I thought 4.3 litres = 1 gallon. Did they change it? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/7 "2006-05-02T23:11:55Z")
Who keeps the metric system down? We doooo, We doooo. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/8 "2006-05-02T23:15:26Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > I thought 4.3 litres = 1 gallon. Did they change it? Nope 3.79 Litres per US Gallon. A Liter is larger than a quart. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/9 "2006-05-02T23:22:32Z")
In the 1970s, I remember that some of the pumps couldn’t be set for more than 99.9 cents per unit dispensed. I also remember two solutions – switching the units dispensed to half-gallons, or to liters. However, the prices were still posted on the big signs in cost per gallon – e.g. 55.9 /half gallon was posted as 111.8 cents per gallon. This was one of the few times when I saw gas sold for something other than a .9 cent/gallon price. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/10 "2006-05-03T00:41:45Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > Ha! As soon as I saw the thread title, I thought $1? Maybe if we switch to litres! > > Brilliant! > > I don’t think $4/gal will be that har to swallow _on the way back down_ from the $5/gal I think we’ll be paying by august. My prediction is that we’ll hit 4 in june and spend the summer creeping up every weekend. Good times. That’s a hell of a prediction, considering the price is already down 10 cents from last week here. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/11 "2006-05-03T00:46:53Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Talk over here is that we’re just about to hit £1 per litre. > > I remember also when it hit £1 per gallon, back in the '70s. > > So it’s not out of the question. But perhaps not in America. (Though converting all the gas pumps might make good use of all those oil profits…) I remember way back in '99 that petrol was 70p per litre in the UK and 70c per litre in Australia. Now it is £1 per litre in the UK but has doubled to $1.40 per litre in Australia. It sounds like prices have risen less in the UK than Australia? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/12 "2006-05-03T00:49:44Z")
One year my family went on vacation to Niagra Falls, Ontario. My father couldn’t get over how _cheap_ gas was. He also got stoped for speeding 3 times. Sadly I don’t see the Americans embracing the metric system anytime soon. Is it even legal to sell gas by the liter now? After Katrina PA gas stations had to get special permission to sell gas by the half gallon. ---
**Author:** ![mrald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mrald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrald)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/13 "2006-05-03T06:14:00Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > First, we Americans don’t believe in the occult, space aliens or the metric system. Second, it would cost a fortune to convert all of those pesky gas pumps… NOT True… Aliens are real 😃 Gas is never going down, liters gallons or otherwise. We seem to just keep buying it so why would the oil rollers knock it back down? ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/14 "2006-05-03T11:26:09Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > That’s a hell of a prediction, considering the price is already down 10 cents from last week here. : shrug : It’s over 3/gal here, and with little fanfar it's gone up .15/gal in the last couple weeks. Plus, it goes up every summer, so I’ll stick with my prediction, and will be more that happy to tell you I was wrong come august. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/15 "2006-05-03T11:30:11Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > Nope 3.79 Litres per US Gallon. A Liter is larger than a quart. Huh. My random number generator must have gotten stuck in the **On** position at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/16 "2006-05-03T11:58:54Z")
Am I the only one who thinks that this scheme might qualify as retail fraud, or at least as a bait-and-switch scam? "Gas is selling for $0.99[sup]9[/sup]? Sweet 🆒 " … "What?! That’s per _liter_? You goddamn sons of Armenian donkey-raping @%^&!ers :mad: " ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/17 "2006-05-03T12:13:03Z")
Most stations have already bought big 3’s so the investment was already made. If we have another shock, like a lot of our infrastructure knocked down by a hurricane, big 4’s are still far cheaper then converting the pumps to metric. Also people resent prices not being clear. Driving down the street you see a station selling gas for $2.69, another for $2.71 and a 3rd selling it for $0.89 - even if there is a way to indicate that price is in liters, and you see it from the street - I would bet that most people would pull into the $2.69, and fewest in the $0.89, the reason is that the driving public does not know the conversion and even if they remembered how they are not going to do a math equation before they make their decision. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/18 "2006-05-03T13:39:53Z")
They wouldn’t have to convert it to metric. They could just use quarts. But I still don’t see us switching to quarts either. Gas buyers are a captive audience, and are essentially forced to pay whatever it costs. It’s not a market like any other. Besides, I have to think that people are smarter than to think a gallon of gas is less than a dollar. It may not be true, but I’d like to think it. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/19 "2006-05-03T14:20:25Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > Nope 3.79 Litres per US Gallon. A Liter is larger than a quart. There are at least two different gallons. The US gallon is about 3.8 litres; the old imperial gallon (formerly used in the UK and its colonial outposts like Australia) is about 4.5 litres. Similarly there are different quarts and pints, becauise they are 1/4 and 1/8 of a gallon in both systems. And there are two different fluid ounces: the US fluid ounce is about 29.6 ml and the imperial fluid ounce is about 28.4 ml. In both systems the ounce is the same, at about 28.4 g, so I don’t understand the different fluid ounces, except that in the US system it’s 1/128 of a gallon and in the imperial system it’s 1/160 of a gallon. ---
**Author:** ![19ForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/439d5e/32.png) [@19ForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/19ForMe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151/20 "2006-05-03T14:24:24Z")
In my town in the 1970s there were a few stations that posted prices in liters. It was a simple scam. If gas would be $1.00 per gallon, these stations would post at $0.45 per liter. (Wow, cheap. Hey, wait a minute.) People catch on pretty quick. I wonder if this sort of thing partially explains the aversion to the metric system. The sleaziest men in the industry embraced it quickly and spoiled it in the minds of the public. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-will-be-under-1-00-again/355151.md?page=2)