OK. Yesterday (May 3rd) morning, gas prices in my area were around $1.27 (note to you Californians, “bite me”). Apparently, yesterday afternoon they raised them, to $1.39. What the heck? I have no idea why, have not heard any big oil stories in the news, but ALL the gas stations around here have done it.
I’m guessing it may be a local issue, or even a new hidden tax, but alas, I digress.
Weird. Kinda looking for an answer, although I doubt anyone can help, but that’s not you guys’ fault.
I caught a short news story to the effect that gasoline stocks are low for this time of year (on the verge of the summer driving season), so prices have jumped a bit. Oil prices have been, to say the least, volatile for the last two years, click here for a look at NYMEX light sweet crude prices over the last 12 months.
You’ve been out of town for a while, right? For the six weeks or so, gas prices around here (Midwest) have been bouncing up and down like Anna Nicole Smith’s bosom on a trampoline. We never know from one day to the next whether it’s gonna be $1.25 or $1.65. Myself, I am now convinced that it is in fact due to a giant international conspiracy. There’s no other good reason for it. Every afternoon at 3:30, during the Snickers bar hour, selected representatives from Big Awl get together and throw darts at a dartboard and set the next day’s gas prices.
Hey, I live in the San Fransico Bay Area (where the ** most ** expensive gas in Califorina can be found) and our gas prices just came back down to $1.96 from $2.10 and damn do we feel lucky.
Not to piss on your problem out there in the midwest, but consider this a “bite me” retaliation. 
When my family was in LA a couple weeks ago, I suggested bringing a container of gas home with us to the Bay Area. It was only about $1.80/gallon! Great deal! My idea was nixed when it was pointed out that buying a gas container would negate the money saved by cheaper gas.
There are a couple of stations down in Papillion, across from the Papillion Jr. High on South 84th Street that are still, I believe, below $1.30… also, the QT on 84th between F and L is usually close to the lowest place I’ve seen in Omaha.
Don’t know why they seem to change so much from day to day… sometimes wish I was the all-powerful-gas-pricer-dude, ya know?
DAYIUZ wrote:
Hey, I live in the San Fransico Bay Area (where the ** most ** expensive gas in Califorina can be found) and our gas prices just came back down to $1.96 from $2.10 and damn do we feel lucky.
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Let me make you feel even better, Dayiuz. In California, we are forced to use “reformulated gasoline” that includes 10% MTBE. MTBE is an “oxygenate” that was supposed to help clean our air, but it is very bad for our water supply. Recent research has been showing that a significant portion of California’s drinking water supply has been tainted by MTBE. Okay, before I get into a rant about how there is currently no known method of ridding our lakes of MTBE (I’m sorry, but requiring all of us to put filters on all our taps is NOT a satisfactory solution when the lawmakers in Sac’to were TOLD this was gonna happen), all I need to say here in that for an affordable price of $2.10 you are actually only paying for 9/10ths of a gallon!! Your TRUE gallon price is closer to $2.33.