Pipeline Flip Turns U.S. Oil World 'Upside Down'

NPR ^ | 18 May 2012 | Jeff Brady

[FreeAtlanta]

I want gas to be less than $2.00 per gal.

BTW, have you heard the scam politicians are trying to pull to move taxes from per gallon to percentage of sale?

For years and years, they had it per gallon because they got more that way. Now, with more efficient cars and higher costs per gallon, the scamsters want to switch the game.

[pallis]

“...as cheap as $3 a gallon...”

Not nearly cheap enough.

[funfan]

$4.35 in San mateo California yesterday.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Theoria.

Drivers along the Gulf Coast and in the Southeast will end up on the winner's side, he says. All that cheap oil from Cushing moving to the Gulf will mean lower gasoline prices there. Kloza predicts that some places with low gas taxes -- like South Carolina -- could see fuel as cheap as $3 a gallon in the coming months.

Remember in November -- Zero has set us up to fail, again and again.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Paid $4.35 in Sunnyvale yesterday — $125 to fill up my Expedition (which was on fumes). An all-time record for a fill-up. I just love the wisdom of Obamanomics.

[The Old Commander]

Hmmm. Brent oil $110.00 a barrel when it used to be $2.00 less than WTI oil which is our oil. We pipe our oil to Cushing Oklahoma where it is piled up. No ports in Cushing. If we could only turn that pipeline around and send the oil to New Orleans, then we could ship it to Europe for about a buck a barrel, nice profit. Now do you see peak oil raising its head again for oil prices in The US?

[The Old Commander]

Hmmm. Brent oil $110.00 a barrel when it used to be $2.00 less than WTI oil which is our oil. We pipe our oil to Cushing Oklahoma where it is piled up. No ports in Cushing. If we could only turn that pipeline around and send the oil to New Orleans, then we could ship it to Europe for about a buck a barrel, nice profit. Now do you see peak oil raising its head again for oil prices in The US?

[zeugma]

Gas is still about $4.19/gal in our area

The price of gas isn't reflective of supply these days. 

[phoneman08]

Yeah, Georgia Gasoline tax has been a percentage of price for as long as I remember. Figures the Feds want to move this way as well. Sure it will sold to us as revenue neutral.

[funfan]

This really ticks me off because I do not hear anything about it from either side. The prices started going up right after Obama took office and pretty much have gone
upward ever since. I feel bad for my kids one has an Explorer and the other has an Escape and it is eating up their income. When my kids were in school we were paying for their gas so I was glad it was on the lower end and was happy when they moved out and took charge of paying for their own gas but now that it is so high it is as if we are not seeing any cost reduction. It seems like every time we get a little ahead here comes the government to screw it all up. They all suck especially Obama!!!!!!!!! Just wait till the Bush tax cuts go away then it will be even worse and my kids rates will go up 12%--you know the tax cuts for the rich funny my kids are from for rich about 60K. Those so called tax cuts for the rich really benefited the lower and middle incomes now that will be gone too and gas will go to $5.00 a gallon. Ugh sorry for the rant

[Moose4]

It’s all over the place here in Durham...some stations on the north side of town last weekend were at $3.52, but our corner station here on the southwest side isn’t budging from $3.70. Gas getting more expensive the closer one gets to Chapel Hell, imagine. Who knew?

}:-)4

[Southack]

Fracking is saving the U.S. economy.

[BRL]

No bias on NPR at all...

I swear these writers have to occasionally do a symbolic "Heil Hitler". These writers put in words like this to demonstrate their "fairmindedness" (actually loyalty to the cause - just like a Heil Hitler) to their other "fairminded" peers.

[tomkat]

Bears repeating, with emphasis :

"The oil glut is from the depression. People are using a whole lot less gas then they were before Obama took office."

$3.49 in central PA this weekend.

[RegulatorCountry]

The lower sales volume stores here still have premium at $3.92 when I know for a fact that it can be had for twenty cents less per gallon, so I have to pay close attention when filling up the car that needs it.

Some of the variation is local tax, or so I understand. Some of it is sales volume, they've still got their tanks full of gas for which they paid more than the current retail price.

The variation is inverted from recent patterns here, too. For the past several years, you'd get nailed buying gas anywhere near an interstate, but now it's cheapest near an interstate.

Why that is, I couldn't say, unless it's the sales volume thing and they're benefitting from rapidly falling wholesale while the slower sales volume places aren't yet.

[dennisw]

Fracking is saving the U.S. economy.

It's helping a lot despite the efforts of the most ignorant ungrateful POS in America, the Democrat party that despises oil, gas, coal and electricity producers. Total idiots whose patron saint is that wrecker of economies, Robert Mugabe.

[thackney]

Your chart: “Monthly US Total Gasoline Retail Sales by Refiners” is very misleading.

Only a small portion of the Gasoline Retail Sales is by the Refineries. As your first chart and second chart together show, far more Gasoline is sold to Retail by Blenders, not Refiners. The Refineries mostly sell to the Blenders, not direct to retail.

If you want to see total gasoline sales in the US, the total data is found at:

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MGFUPUS2&f=M

[American in Israel]

Thanks for the link! Great data. I notice that the downturn still shows, but in a much more realistic way. I wonder what triggered the odd chart I posted.

[American in Israel]

$3.49 in central PA this weekend.

Its $4.45 this weekend in Alaska.

[tomkat]

On vacation, or need to change yer nick ?   ;-)