$4 gallon gas predicted

[WildBill]

What might run prices down quickly is if this run on gas causes it to be a lackluster holiday on the roads. If reports come in gas prices led people to shun the driving getaway the prices could snap back pretty quick. In any case I think for those paying over $3 this week, I would feel almost certain next week you will be paying less than now.

Ok maybe it takes a few more to get lower prices, but the scenario is playing out. Reports are Labor Day was a bust in many spots and some analysts said highway travel might have been off 5-10% from last year. No matter how you cut it, the free market did its trick. Or maybe people just really listened to W when he said don't go out driving over the weekend. In any case my prediction that futures for oil would be back in the mid $60s and gasoline prices would trend back down soon is coming out.

I love panic situations where the public and the markets all reflect unfounded fears. So damn profitable...

 

[TTinCO]

I don't see it hitting $4. Saudi Arabia is raising production, Bush tapped the reserves, and may foreign countries have taken measures to get more gas & oil to the US. I suspect that we have seen the peak-at least outside of the Atlanta area and others who have had their primary supply line taken out of commission.

 

[Dawoofdaddy]

Agreed Bill, too many people did seem to be panic buying and that always brings a sudden haircut. Short term to intermediate term my opinions vary. However, long term, I remain sure that prices will rise over the next decade or longer.

Still laughing about your comment about the radio guy giving reasons he came up with in the shower for higher gas prices.

A 10% drop in sales, coupled with higher costs would put many businesses into the red and eventually bankruptcy. Wait until people in colder areas see their heating bills rise 70% or more from last winter. It will take until early next year for the higher gas and energy prices to affect other goods.

I also look forward to snickering when I hear the wall street crowd telling people how much gas prices have "pulled back" when they average $2.50 and how "cheap" oil is if it goes back to the $50-60 range.

The spike high for oil was low 70s and now Wall Street is jumping up and down because it "pulled back" to mid 60s???

Weren't the the same people that said oil was "overbought" at $30 and gasoline was only being driven higher by speculators at $1.60?

I would like to see Pinnacle hang a line "will gasoline to go below average price of $2.00", so I could hammer the "no" option.

:drink:

 

[WildBill]

Gas in Atlanta is cheaper than in much of the country. Go to Gasbuddy.com and see for yourself. That was just a big ole panic that got worse as people starting hearing and seeing the lines. As long as everyone doesn't try to buy gas all at once I think we have seen there is sufficient infrastructure out there to make sure enough gas is there in the system. No telling if that will always be true, but I am hoping this mess will finally push through the changes needed to add refineries and strengthen oil products transportation infrastructure.

As an article in the local paper pointed out how vulnerable Las Vegas is, there is one pipeline 12 inches wide that ships gasoline and fuel products out here from California and there is generally speaking no backup line. If it were out of order or cut we would be SOL. They could truck gas in here, but it would be such a massive operation that it would certainly lead to gas shortages. That 12 inch pipeline was created with about 2 million people at most in mind here. We will pass that amount before the end of the decade. There are lots of cities in a similar predicament. Its sad it takes disasters and emergencies to get people to act. Even if they do act, fools like the Sierra Club fight it all the way. They would argue if you bring in less gas, people HAVE to drive less and we all win. Yeah whatever...

 

[Dawoofdaddy]

6 bucks as was in Atlanta, would be an instant trainwreck for the entire economy if sustained. However, I believe even a sustained national average price of 3 bucks will do significant damage until people drive more fuel efficient vehicles and live in more energy efficient homes.

Im not in the crowd that says we are going to be out of oil tomorrow, but what if they are correct?

All I have been saying and will continue saying is that the world will be paying much higher prices for energy during the coming decade. I remain skeptically optimistic that you are correct that production and/or alternatives will meet the growing demand before prices place serious economic disruptions into the entire world economy (if not already).

I am invested in the sector to offset any higher prices that may occur. Others with money to invest would be wise to carefully choose spots to enter as the market clearly has been telling us for a few years that this commodity/energy bull market is to remain.

 

[Woody0]

Pinny should be paying my wager on $3 gas here soon

Intertops paid mine last night, only took 8 days from placing the bet.

 

[JohnnieKnoxville]

Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon in the near future, Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said Wednesday. "There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," he said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"

:sad3:

Is it too late to buy oil stocks?

 

[WildBill]

Depends. I would say the majors are probably not the greatest spot right now, but the drillers and supply companies certainly look good. The valuations are as you would expect, but I think the point is much of the industrialized world just refuses to conserve its way to a cushion. As long as the mindset is lets explore our way towards supply/demand balance then those companies are the likely winners. I would play them for a few years and then back off. Demand will continue to rise, but I get the sneaky suspicion that supply will rise even faster just based on the high levels of investment that has been started over the last few years in oil exploration and extraction. This current spike is much owed to the low oil prices of the late 90s, which caused the investment in the sector to drop significantly. Its just now picking up and it usually takes 4-6 years for investments to start bearing fruit. That means the drilling and extraction should start in earnest in the next 1-2 years.

 

[5teamparlay]

https://www.reviewjournal.com/busin...soar-as-memorial-day-weekend-arrives-2366100/

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.03 this week. Memorial Day weekend prices have not been this high since 2014, when they averaged $3.65 a gallon.