Free Republic

Driving in Pennsylvania will get more expensive in 2015 so enjoy the lower gas prices at the pump while we have them. As of Thursday, the state's uncapping of another third of its oil company franchise tax will cause it to rise by 10 cents a gallon and that likely will impact what you pay at the pump. But with gas prices averaging $2.48 a gallon on Sunday according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 241 gas outlets in Harrisburg, even if that full increase is passed along to consumers it would still keep the per-gallon price well below the $3...

If politics is the art of successful compromise--defined as outcomes that make all parties equally unhappy--then the recent budget extension bill offers something for everyone. It extended the tax credits for electric-car charging stations and natural-gas-vehicle refueling stations, which should make owners of those vehicles happy. But it did not extend the generous tax credits for purchase or lease of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, disappointing advocates of that zero-emission vehicle technology. Those advocates include Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda. Now, it turns out, the often-reviled "gas guzzler tax deduction" was restored to its previous level by the budget bill as well. As...

<p>Richmond, Va. (1140wrva.com) A local oil industry analyst says look for $1.75 gas soon. John Zehler says retailers are giving up more and more of their record profit margins, which he says are around 40 cents, as the competition heats up.</p>

ehicles, as did concern about global warming. But now gasoline prices have plunged to their lowest level since the Great Recession, averaging $2.50 nationwide for a gallon of regular. If gas prices stay low — granted, a very big “if” — one of the most powerful arguments for alternative fuel cars will be wiped out. “You have an early-adopter group that’s much more interested in these vehicles as a way of doing something 'green,’ and the cost of fuel is not going to be a big factor for them,” said John O’Dell, a senior editor at the Edmunds.com auto information...

<p>Remember when we told you earlier this month that a gas station in Oklahoma City had lowered its price for regular unleaded to $1.99 a gallon?</p> <p>Well, now that trend is nationwide: GasBuddy.com, which monitors prices across the country, says the $1.99 sign is up over pumps in 24 states. The national average is at $2.43 a gallon, but at one filling station in Springfield, Mo., it was only $1.93.</p>

This week, oil fell through the price floor of $60 a barrel and gas at my local filling station was $2.26 a gallon. That’s great news for commuters and almost every business, but wonderfully bad news for our ugliest enemies. This price plunge has been driven by Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s dominant power. While it’s true that part of Riyadh’s actions respond to the energy renaissance in North America, the greater motivation is breaking Iran’s will. The Saudis believe they can no longer rely on the US to contain Tehran’s imminent nuclear threat, so they’re out to do what our lukewarm...

The price of oil has fallen by nearly half in just six months, a surprising and steep plunge that has analysts arguing over whether this is a good or bad thing. The price of oil has fallen by nearly half in just six months, a surprising and steep plunge that has consumers cheering, producers howling and economists wringing their hands over whether this is a good or bad thing. The price of a barrel of oil is just under $56, down from a summer high of $107, and lower than at any time since the US was still in recession...

The dramatic decline in oil prices will cost Ottawa about $5 billion in lost revenue and provincial economies a little more than that, one of Canada's biggest banks suggested today. That's one of the main takeaways from a CIBC report that attempts to quantify the impact of plunging oil prices on many aspects of Canada's economy. "The recent dive in crude oil prices is an unprecedented development for the Canadian economy," the report by CIBC economists Avery Shenfeld, Peter Buchanan and Warren Lovely says. There's a broad consensus that the declining price of oil is bad economic news for Canada,...

Gasoline prices are falling across northeast Oklahoma and at many convenience stores, it is now below $2 a gallon. Tuesday morning, News On 6 viewers began sending us photos of $1.99 gas prices at QuikTrips across the Tulsa area. Viewers are also reported Kum & Go's in Tulsa area communities are also selling gasoline at $1.99 a gallon. And the lower price for gasoline is not just in the Tulsa area, a South Coffeyville gas station has gas at $1.97 a gallon.

Just two weeks ago a sole gas station in Oklahoma swept headlines for dropping gas prices below $2 a gallon. Today, 13 states have joined that list and the trend is expanding. Gas for less than $1.90 a gallon can be found in at least one station in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Ohio, according to CNN. CNN cites ten additional states– Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia– that now have gas below $2 a gallon. “What we’re seeing is markets at work,” Heritage Foundation economist Nick Loris said. “Significant increases in supply and a relatively...

Richmond, Va. (1140wrva.com) Look for gas prices in the area to fall below $2 in the near future. Local gas industry analyst John Zehler, President of wholesaler Virginia Fuels, is predicting under $2 pump prices as the free fall in crude prices continues. Zehler says the price plunge has been going on for 6 months and it's going to be hard to turn it around until demand catches up with production. He says some folks think, with the current trend, we could see gas fall to $1.60 by the summer but admits it wild speculation.

So who's crazy now? In 2011, the MSM mercilessly mocked Michele Bachmann for saying that if she became president, gas prices would fall to under $2/gallon. Typical was Time magazine, which called her prediction "fantasy." Time mocked Bachmann's drill, baby, drill policy, sniffing that if implemented, "prices at the pump might drop a whole 3 cents a gallon." But on CBS This Morning, there was top oil analyst Tom Kloza, saying that by Christmas, gas prices would be in the range of . . . $1.99-2.29 [I saw $2.18 here in Texas yesterday]. So who's crazy now, and where does...

A left-coast writer named Mark Morford thinks that gas prices falling to $2 a gallon would be the worst thing to happen to America. After all, he says, the wrong people would profit: oil companies (why would oil companies profit from lower gas prices?), auto makers, and internet retailers like Amazon that offer free shipping. If falling gas prices are the worst for America, then the best, Morford goes on to say, would be to raise gas taxes by $6 a gallon and dedicate all of the revenue to (boondoggles) “alternative energy and transport, environmental protections, our busted educational system,...

Gasoline prices are at their lowest level in four years. The price at the pump in many states is almost a full dollar cheaper than it was last spring. So some politicians think this is a good time to raise gasoline taxes. Several states are tired of waiting for Congress to fix the federal highway trust fund, so they're considering raising gas taxes themselves to address their crumbling roads. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is trying to sell that state's legislators — especially those in his own Republican party — on raising the state's motor fuel tax to fund long neglected...

Gas prices, on average, are about 50 cents less a gallon than a year ago, giving a de facto tax cut and providing relief to millions of consumers as the holiday season kicks into high gear. However, a growing number of politicians have suggested that, given cheaper fuel costs, conditions might be ripe to hike federal taxes on gas in order to help fund infrastructure projects. Rendell is one of those voices. He supports raising the federal gas tax—

Tracking Miles As Gas Tax Alternative Raises Fairness, Privacy Concerns Los Angeles California officials are testing the idea of a mileage fee to replace the state tax of 36 cents per gallon of gas. By DAN WEIKEL Among those who would be hardest hit by a mileage fee are owners of hybrids and electric cars Standing at a Chevron station in Long Beach, Teresa Gutierrez wished she was pumping fuel into a gas-sipping hybrid instead of her hulking GMC Yukon. She was nevertheless cool to the idea that the state might start raising money for highway repairs by replacing the...

If you’re like most Americans, you haven’t been questioning the welcome drop in gasoline prices. You just fill ’er up and feel grateful that you’re spending less.But why has this remarkable drop come about? And what can we do to help keep prices lower?Some of it, unfortunately, is beyond our control. Worldwide demand for oil is down now. That always causes the cost of gasoline to drop.But the other side of the equation -- the part that is under our control -- has gone largely unheralded in many media accounts: the boom in U.S. energy production. Simply put, we’re producing...

Nationally averaged gas prices ticked down a little lower today -- yet again -- to $2.75 per gallon. They're now more than 50 cents lower than they were a year ago. So no wonder, at a time like this, the murmur is growing: Maybe Congress ought to think about raising the national gasoline tax. It was last raised, in the year 1993, to 18.4 cents per gallon. That's over 20 years ago, and gas prices at the time were close to the now unimaginable $1.00 per gallon mark. Yet the amount of the gas tax was fixed and not tied...

An Oncue Express station in Oklahoma City was selling the motor fuel for $1.99 a gallon Wednesday, becoming the first one to drop below $2 in the U.S. since July 30, 2010, Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy Organization Inc., said by email from Chicago. "We knew when we saw crude oil prices drop last week that we'd break the $2 threshold pretty soon, but we didn't know if it would happen in South Carolina, Texas, Missouri or Oklahoma," said DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for Gasbuddy. "Today's national average, $2.74, now makes the current price we pay a...

HUIMANGUILLO, Mexico — The big-time gasoline thieves had already come and gone during the wee hours, filling their tanker trucks with stolen fuel and then fleeing. Then dawn broke, and word spread that a crime gang had again tapped into a gasoline pipeline, and it was spewing fuel into a ditch. At first, only a few farmers showed up, carrying plastic jerry cans. Then dozens. Then even more. All were eager to collect what spilled fuel they could. (...) Mexico is plagued by rampant energy theft. In the first eight months of this year, 7.5 million barrels went missing, a...