According to FloridaStateGasPrices.com, a Shell station in Lake Buena Vista, not far from the Walt Disney World Resort, was charging $5.89 a gallon. Midgrade was $5.94 while premium was $5.99 a gallon. Whether the prices are a publicity stunt to draw attention to the station is anybody’s guess. But if it was a stunt – it’s working.  Word of the price spike has made headlines nationwide.

The Shell station in the Orlando area wasn’t the only one to nudge prices near the six-dollar a gallon range. A Sun Gas Express and a Suncoast Energy station in southeast Orlando on Butler National Dr are charging $5.69 to $5.79 respectively.

A Mobil station in Lake Buena Vista on Apopka Vineland Rd near I-4 was charging $4.69 a gallon for regular Wednesday afternoon.

In South Florida, we couldn’t find any stations with outrageous prices like the above, but we did find a few that have already reportedly breached the four-dollar a gallon mark.

Some stations by Miami International Airport are already selling regular unleaded for $4.39 a gallon.

Wednesday afternoon it was reported that a Chevron station at NE 167th Street and NE 6th Avenue was charging $4.09 for regular unleaded. Another North Miami Beach Chevron, at NW 167th Street and North Miami Avenue, was reportedly charging $4.01 for regular unleaded.

Miami driver William Ortiz blames speculators for hiking the price of wholesale oil. He says that’s who’s behind the recent spikes in local gas prices.

Since January gas prices have climbed about 20 cents a gallon here and across the country and average about $3.73 around South Florida.

The latest spikes are being fed by Iran’s warnings to cut oil sales in retaliation for economic sanctions as it develops its nuclear energy program.

Some oil industry analysts predicts gas prices could average between $4.00 to $4.25 nationwide before the summer driving season.

Some analysts now predict gas prices could not only slow the course of the US economic recovery, but also become a major campaign issue as we approach the fall elections.

In the last week, the price for unleaded regular has jumped about a nickel in Miami-Dade and Broward.

In the last month the price at the pump in Florida has jumped nationwide about 17 cents to $3.63 on average for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to the American Automobile Association. Last year at this time, that same gallon was running around $3.14.

In Miami-Dade and Ft. Lauderdale, drivers have seen the price at the pump jump about 20 cents in the last month to an average of $3.70 for a gallon of unleaded regular.

Last year at this time regular unleaded gas averaged $3.18 and $3.16 a gallon respectively for Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Check out the cheapest gas prices in your neighborhood at FloridaGasPrices.com.

Pensacola, where unleaded regular is averaging $3.52 a gallon, is the cheapest places in the state to fill up.

West Palm Beach is the most expensive place to top off the tank; regular unleaded is averaging $3.73 a gallon.

This year the price increases have gotten a bit of a head start even as the price of wholesale oil has dropped.

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The American Automobile Association reports pump prices began to climb after Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Coupled with U.S. demands as refineries shutdown for maintenance (and to switch blends) and the usual spring/summer spike, we could see a spike of 60-cents or more in the coming months.

In the last month the price at the pump in Florida has jumped nationwide about 17 cents to $3.60 on average for a gallon of regular unleaded. Last year at this time, that same gallon was running around $3.12.

In Miami-Dade and Ft. Lauderdale, drivers have seen the price at the pump jump about 20 cents in the last month to an average of $3.66 for a gallon of unleaded regular.

Last year at this time regular unleaded gas averaged $3.18 and $3.16 a gallon respectively for Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Check out the cheapest gas prices in your neighborhood at FloridaGasPrices.com.

Pensacola, where unleaded regular is averaging $3.47 a gallon, is the cheapest places in the state to fill up.

West Palm Beach is the most expensive place to top off the tank; regular unleaded is averaging $3.68 a gallon.

In the last month the price at the pump jumped nationwide about a dime to $3.36 a gallon on average, according to GasBuddy.com.

In Florida, prices have jumped nearly double that (17 cents) in the last month. The average price for a regular unleaded in the state is $3.46 a gallon compared to $3.29 a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association.

In Miami-Dade, drivers have seen the price at the pump jump 16 cents in the last month to an average of $3.51 for a gallon of unleaded regular.  In Ft. Lauderdale drivers are paying about $3.50 on average for a gallon of regular unleaded compared to $3.35 a month ago. Last year at this time regular unleaded averaged $3.18 a gallon in both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Jacksonville, where unleaded regular is averaging $3.39 a gallon, is the cheapest places in the state to fill up.

West Palm Beach is the most expensive place to top off the tank; regular unleaded is averaging $3.54 a gallon.

Check out the cheapest gas prices in your neighborhood at FloridaGasPrices.com.

2011 saw the highest yearly price per gallon average ever but 2012 could be even higher.  Florida finished 2011 with prices averaging a $3.25 a gallon, up 20 cents from a year earlier and a year-end record. They rose to an average $3.33 a gallon Wednesday. Prices usually rise at least 90 cents by summer, so that means gas topping $4 a gallon in July, analysts say.

In the last three weeks the price at the pump jumped nationwide about 12 cents to $3.36 a gallon on average, according to the latest Lundberg survey.

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In Florida, prices have jumped that much and more in the last week alone. The average price for a regular unleaded in the state is $3.44 a gallon compared to $3.31 a week ago, according to the American Automobile Association.

In Miami-Dade, drivers have seen the price at the pump jump 13 cents in the last week to an average of $3.48 for a gallon of unleaded regular.  In Ft. Lauderdale drivers are paying about $3.46 on average for a gallon of regular unleaded compared to $3.35 a week ago. Last year at this time regular unleaded averaged $3.17 a gallon in both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Tallahassee, where unleaded regular is averaging $3.36 a gallon, is the cheapest places in the state to fill up.

West Palm Beach is the most expensive place to top off the tank; regular unleaded is averaging $3.51 a gallon.

Check out the cheapest gas prices in your neighborhood at FloridaGasPrices.com.

2011 saw the highest yearly price per gallon average ever but 2012 could be even higher.  Florida finished 2011 with prices averaging a $3.25 a gallon, up 20 cents from a year earlier and a year-end record. They rose to an average $3.33 a gallon Wednesday. Prices usually rise at least 90 cents by summer, so that means gas topping $4 a gallon in July, analysts say.

Gas Prices under Obama and Bush

From the liberal Los Angeles Times.

Excerpt:

Oil prices soared Tuesday as tensions grew over key Persian Gulf oil shipments.

In afternoon trading benchmark crude jumped $3.80, or 3.8 percent, to $102.63 per barrel in New York.

Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oil varieties that are imported by U.S. refineries, rose $3.87, or 3.6%, to $111.25 per barrel in London.

Prices climbed as soon as exchanges opened for the first day of 2012 trading. Commodity prices tend to rise at the beginning of January as investors start the new year with a fresh round of trading. This year prices were driven by heightened concerns that Iran might try to close the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to oil tankers, if Western nations impose new sanctions.

Iran warned the U.S. to stay out of the strategic waterway, where one-sixth of the world’s oil shipments pass every day. On Monday its navy fired a cruise missile as part of a military exercise.

The U.S. and European nations are mulling further economic sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program. A standoff could result that would be damaging to the global economy.

A dustup with Iran could slow crucial oil supplies at a time when the world needs every drop. Global oil demand is expected to rise to a record 89.5 million barrels per day in 2012.

Three of the world’s largest economies — the U.S., China and India — continued to grow with increased manufacturing activity in December.

Meanwhile, Obama continues to dither over the Keystone XL pipeline.

Those that do will find a little present for them when they go to fill up the tank; gas prices are down.

Nationwide, gas prices dropped about 14 cents in the last month to an average of $3.24 for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to GasBuddy.com.  In Florida, the price at the price drop has been about 12 cents in the last month to the current average of $3.27 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.  Last year at this time, regular unleaded was averaging $2.99 a gallon across the state.

In Miami-Dade, drivers have seen the price at the pump drop nearly 12 cents in the last month to an average of $3.33 for a gallon of unleaded regular.  A year ago, the price of unleaded regular in the area averaged about a buck less at $3.06 a gallon.

In Ft. Lauderdale drivers are also paying about $3.33 on average for a gallon of regular unleaded compared to $3.46 a week ago. Last year at this time regular unleaded averaged $3.06 a gallon.

Tampa, where unleaded regular is averaging $3.19 a gallon, is the cheapest places in the state to fill up.

West Palm Beach is the most expensive place to top off the tank; regular unleaded is averaging $3.38 a gallon.

Check out the cheapest gas prices in your neighborhood at FloridaGasPrices.com.

Bankrate.com: Do you really save money by driving a few extra miles for cheaper gas? This website can help you calculate if the trip really saves money in your budget.

PittsburghGasPrices.com: Get the lowest prices at the pump.

Fuel Economy Guide – Vehicle Comparison: Find out how fuel-efficient your vehicle is — and how it stacks up against others by doing a side-by-side comparison from the EPA and DOE.

Other Links:

• GasBuddy.com
• AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report
• CommuteInfo Ride Share Program

The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped about 9 cents over the past two weeks.

The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices puts the average price for a gallon of regular at $3.91.  Jackson, Mississippi had the nation’s lowest average price forgas at $3.60; Chicago had the highest at $4.38.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) reports the price for regular unleaded in Florida has dropped to about $3.82 a gallon on average; down from 3.92 a week ago. Last year at this time, the price for unleaded regular was a buck less at 2.81 a gallon.

In Miami-Dade, drivers have seen the price at the pump drop about a dime in the last week. Unleaded regular is averaging $3.90 a gallon; down from $3.99 a week ago. A year ago, the price of unleaded regular in the area averaged $2.87 a gallon.

In Ft. Lauderdale drivers are paying about $3.90 on average for a gallon of regular unleaded compared to $3.97 a gallon a week ago. Last year at this time regular unleaded averaged $2.84 a gallon.

The most expensive area in the state to fill up is West Palm Beach where regular unleaded is averaging $3.92 a gallon. Tallahassee gas stations have some of the cheapest prices in the state, unleaded regular is averaging $3.75 a gallon.

Check out the cheapest gas prices in your neighborhood at FloridaGasPrices.com.

“Gas prices keep going higher and they don’t look like they’re going to be getting any lower any time soon,” said Joshua Kailch.

“They just keep going up every day,” echoed Arturo Guzman. “I’m seeing it go up ten to fifteen cents every two weeks for the past two or three months.”

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But recently, believe it or not, the price at the pump has gone down. In the last week, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded dropped a penny. While many of us were hoping for more, it is a decline and one that the American Automobile Association said will continue.

Currently for a gallon of unleaded gas, Miami-Dade’s average is $3.97, Fort Lauderdale is $3.95 and Florida, as a whole, is averaging $3.91.

By next week, however, we could see those numbers drop by two to five cents.

But that decline may not be enough to help drivers struggling financially.

“If I want to go to the store, I have to put in a certain amount for gas, so I have to cut back on the store,” Gloria Jackson said.

“So far I’m on the company expense so I’m okay there, but on the weekend you stay home a little more sometimes,” Guzman said.

Many analysts have said if major hurricanes or catastrophic event don’t impact oil production and distribution, we could see prices slip to between $3.25 to $3.75 a gallon this summer.

But until then, however, don’t be surprised to see prices go up on everything you buy – from your groceries to your night out on the town.

“Everything is based on transportation, so everything goes up from it, lights, food so it’s affecting everything I think,” John Bryant said.

Analysts are keeping a close eye on the flooding in the Mississippi River region which could become a threat to refineries and mean another price push at the pump.

Check gas prices at floridagasprices.com.

“At one point it hit $106.83, the highest it’s been since September, 2008. In London, Brent crude rose $2.25 to settle at $117.20 per barrel.”

Libya’s output is only 2% of global supply and most of that goes to European countries. Saudi Arabia is making up the shortfall at the moment, but this is bound to result in disruption across the OPEC countries, which includes Iran -not exactly any Westerners friend.

And where was Obama when this ‘skirmish’ started? In Brazil playing soccer and assuring Brazilian oil company Petrobras that America would be their best customer after making $2Billion of US taxpayer money available to them last August amid our own Gulf drilling moratorium, further assuring that Americans will continue to move further from energy independence.

Personally, I kinda think Bob here, has it right!

Aloha, Mikie

Dare2Kerr@gmail.com

With gas prices slowly rising above $2 per gallon, it’s hard not to wonder if we will once again see prices spike to the unbearable $4 per gallon that we saw less than one year ago.

There is no need to fear a $4 per gallon price this summer said Ben Brockwell, director of the Oil Price Information Service during the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association conference on Tuesday.  Brockwell said that businesses and consumers are using less fuel because of the push for conservation during the peak of high oil prices.  In addition, Brockwell said the rise in unemployment has created less demand for gasoline and has helped to keep the low prices at the pump.

Gas prices have slowly been on the rise since the beginning of December when the average price for a gallon of unleaded in Wisconsin was $1.72.  Many economists believe we will see prices rise slowly above the current price of $1.98, but the chance that we will see anything close to $4 in the coming months is quite unlikely.

Reduced demand is not only occuring  in the United States, global demand has seen a decrease helping to keep prices lower at the pumps worldwide.   “We have plenty of crude and plenty of spare refining capacity. Plus we are seeing global demand for gasoline slow as well,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago.

CNN released a video at the end of 2008 describing the process of oil to gasoline and how prices are affected based on the decisons by the oil companies.

One factor in keeping the prices low was the increased sales of hybrids over the summer months of 2008.  Many Toyota dealers were unable to keep the popular Prius model in stock, and many had waiting periods as long as 4 months for those interested in the car.  Sales have recently dropped with the Prius and the Japanese government is now offering to pay incentives to customers for bringing in cars older than 13 years when they buy a new car from a Japanese firm.

If consumers remain conscious about their decisions reguarding fuel use and try to use less when it is possible, gasoline prices should remain at much lower levels this summer in comparison to a year ago.  Brockwell noted, “The price of oil eventually will go back up, but I think that’s a year or more away.”

Saudi Arabia and other major OPEC producers are saying ahead of their meeting Wednesday that a cut of that magnitude is in the offing, as early as January.

Additionally, Russian media are quoting Deputy Premier Igor Sechin as saying Moscow is ready to take 300,000 barrels off the market. And the oil minister of Azerbaijan tells The Associated Press that his country is willing to cut back by the same amount.

A 2-million barrel cut would be the largest single reduction ever by OPEC.

–Associated Press

 
The Molikpaq offshore oil platform off Sakhalin island in far eastern Russia. OPEC is set to announce a significant cut in oil output as the cartel seeks to support plummeting crude prices and producers’ incomes, while non-OPEC oil exporter Russia may also slice production.(AFP/File/Ursula Hyzy)

All this economy talk has had me wondering… Are we so focused on the supposed credit crunch, stock market slaughter and mortgage meltdown (and other alliterative media snippets) that our attention has been drawn completely away from gas prices?

The price of gas in a slowing economy, where middle class families are apparently the ones in trouble, is quite important – more important now than in the summer when no one was particularly concerned about their savings, their investments or their debt loads. And yet, here we are, with oil currently sitting at $87/barrel and gas prices stagnant at around $1.10 in Calgary. The price of gas hasn’t budged ten cents since oil was touching $140/barrel. As far as I can remember, pump prices in Calgary never exceeded $1.19 even at the height of crude prices. WTF? Is this all doom and gloom speculation, or…

Are gas companies taking advantage of consumers because our attention is drawn and we and the media aren’t focused on the price of gas at the moment? I’d like to know what’s going on here, because while I don’t mind paying more for the sake of everyone using less, I still feel like I’m being fleeced and the extra dollars that I am now paying more attention to, are further lining the pockets of gas company executives and middle eastern princes.

On a more positive note, my wine cellar fridge finally arrived yesterday and it only took about 5 hours for installation. Now it’s done. Post-worthy – perhaps in a couple of days.

Anyways, why are prices so high? Although it is a little complicated, the basic law of supply and demand still apply. Huge demand and not that much supply. So, how can we fix it? Well there’s more to it than saying let’s go with electric cars. Let’s say somehow our government actually got something done and was able to comvert to electric cars within the next ten years. It still costs money to charge up the car, which in turn is powered by a power plant. So, we must be careful in which alternate energy we choose to go with.

Renewable energies are the only sources of energy that are infinite. Renewable energies include water, wind, and solar. Although renewable energies are great, it isn’t reasonable to have the whole country run on these because there has to be special circumstances in order to convert these renewable energies into usable electricity. However, there are houses with solar roofs that have the ability to power the house, heat water, and charge an electric car all from the solar panels on the roofs. Basically, there are a lot of options, but the government of what was once the greatest country in the world needs to act and not sit around negotiating whether the Republicans’ or Democrats’ plans are better. Just do something.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ride_with_hitler.jpg

The above image was World War II propaganda attempting to urge Americans to carpool to support the conservation of oil for the war effort.  Today, replace “Hitler” with “Big Oil” and it still applies – with the exception that Pump N Go is not interested in cutting back for purposes of supporting a war; instead we are interested in converting the world’s dependence on oil to independence from oil.

In 2007 gas consumption in the U.S. fell by .4 percent for the entire year.  In comparison, consumption dropped .5 percent for January and February of 08 thus far.  As most anyone can surmise, the decline has been triggered by the seemingly ever increasing and record breaking fuel prices.  Pump N Go wonders, what alternatives are individuals utilizing nationwide in order to curtail their usage of gasoline?  Have we resorted to less travel, the once highly popular and then to some extent neglected car pool method, walking to our destinations, utilizing public transportation or using alternative fuel vehicles?  A few clicks around PNG’s site and one recognizes alternative fuel vehicles are available in numerous options – some of which are available now and others that would ideally become the solution to our oil crises in the near to distant future (cross your fingers for near future).  Post your thoughts, comments and even your rant on what you’ve done to curtail the use of gas and participate in our poll (link below)…

 http://www.luckypolls.com/index.php?act=08&id=11356 

NEW YORK – Gasoline and oil prices extended their record-setting streaks Wednesday, with gas at the pump reaching a new high of nearly $3.25 and crude surpassing $110 for the first time.

Investors shrugged off an Energy Department report that crude oil and gasoline supplies jumped last week.

The national average price of a gallon of regular gas rose by 1.9 cents overnight to $3.246 a gallon, a new record, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Pump prices are following crude’s recent surge, and could rise as high as $3.75 a gallon this spring, analysts say.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose $1.17 to settle at $109.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising to a new trading record of $110.20.

The dollar weakened throughout the day Wednesday, setting a number of new low marks against the euro and attracting new buyers to the oil market. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is weak. Many analysts believe the dollar’s decline is the reason crude futures have surged to new records in 11 of the past 12 sessions, despite the fact that crude supplies have risen 10.2 percent since early January.

Read the rest:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080312/ap_on_bi_
ge/oil_prices;_ylt=AnceUVNUNK0
dlSsSHCXulpys0NUE

Regardless of what the politicians are telling us, and regardless whether you deliver your products to the client or not the price of fuel is affecting you. It’s affecting your business because it’s affecting the consumer – your consumers.

In a recent survey done by the National Retail Federation they state, “Whether gas prices pose a fiscal or psychological concern consumers are affected regardless of income.”

Some interesting stats show that from the number of adults nationwide16.4% delayed a major purchase such as cars, TV, or furniture. Dining out has been reduced by 25.2%, 31.2% decreased vacation travel plans, 17.3% are spending less on groceries, and 23.7% are spending less on clothing.

That equates to the fact that restaurants, travel agencies, motel/hotels, car dealers, furniture stores, and retail clothing stores are all going to be affected by gas prices. If any one of those listed is the business you’re doing, then your bottom line of profits is definitely affected. The interesting part of all that is that it didn’t matter if those polled were in the $50K+ income bracket or less than $50K, the results were the same.

The only distinction seemed to be that adults in the age bracket of 45-54 years of age had the highest percentages but with the same outcome. For instance of the 25.2% of adults that reduced dining out, 28.6% of them were in that age bracket, and so on down the line. The survey also noted that 70% of the consumers of that age group were impacted by higher gas prices.

As you might have guessed, when these survey figures were broken down by region the West was higher in all categories than the NE, Mid-West, or Southern regions. Still only 5.7% of us have increased carpooling.

It’s a fact, whether we like it or not, that every penny spent on gasoline is a penny kept from retailers. Looking beyond just the retail industry, what about the service business. The cost of doing business for a repairman is going to increase as the expense for gasoline increases, and ultimately his prices will reflect that increase. It doesn’t matter whether he’s doing electrical, roofing, renovating, plumbing, whatever service drives up to your home is going to cost more in the long run.

Ultimately, as the domino effect goes into play, those who can least afford price increases will be the hardest hit. Seniors and retirees on fixed incomes just have to suck it up and bear the price increases. As the survey pollsters have said income levels didn’t vary results of choices, it still varies the ability to handle the domino effects. If income remains stationery but prices rise, there’s definitely an affect on those with fixed incomes.

For the entrepreneur to overcome the situation it requires some really extreme methods. Following are some tips to keep your expenses down:

• Order supplies online, anticipating a price increase, and have them delivered to you.
• Research your competitors online and save the gas.
• Group doing an errand or two when they’re in the vicinity of a scheduled client meeting.
• Do more of your business by mail, email, or on the internet. You can do just about anything from paying a vendor to transferring funds from one bank account to another on the internet, and you don’t use any gas. The only time you have to go to the bank is to make a deposit.
• If you conduct business at Trade Shows and have to travel find ways to cut corners. Carpool to the airport with a colleague or even a nearby competitor. (You’re both going to be doing business at the same show anyway.) Perhaps, you can combine two trips with only one return home after the second trip. Perhaps putting an ad in the Trade Show program can save you making a trip. (You could use that plan for the less important trade show.)
• Consider whether media advertising for your business would be cheaper than what you’ve been doing in person considering gas prices.

That’s just a few ideas to get those little gray cells working. After all, as an entrepreneur you’ve done marketing on a shoestring before. I’m sure you can come up with at least ten more ideas than I’ve given you. You might also want to check out the web site: http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?

At that site you can find the cheapest gas prices in your area. I’d venture to say that these rankings change daily, so check it out when you need gas.