atprm
11-04-2008, 02:46 PM
Published Tuesday November 4, 2008
Gasoline under $2 a gallon in metro area
BY CHET MULLIN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Motorists across the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area were delighted today to find gasoline at less than $2 a gallon at certain stations, a level not seen for at least three years.
“This just thrills me,“ said Sue James of Omaha, a retail merchandiser who drives from store to store to ensure that displays are up and products are stocked.
James was filling her car’s gas tank with the ethanol blend, at $1.96.9 a gallon, at Bucky’s Express in Council Bluffs. Signs at several other stations along West Broadway showed $1.99 a gallon.
Rose White of AAA Nebraska said regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.28 a gallon across the state today. Prices were even lower in some places, such as Omaha, where there is strong competition, White said.
The last time prices for regular unleaded were below $2 a gallon was February 2005, White said.
In Iowa, AAA reported, regular unleaded averaged $2.14. The national average was $2.39 per gallon.
Prices could go lower.
The price for processed unleaded fuel dropped 8 cents a gallon on the commodities market Monday to close at $1.42, White said. If prices remain at that level, gas at the pump also could drop by approximately the same amount, she said.
Most Fantasy’s Food-N-Fuel and Bucky’s Express stations were selling gas at $1.99 or less this morning. Corporate spokesmen declined to comment.
Lower gas prices is a good-news, bad-news situation.
Oil futures have declined 33 percent in October, a monthly record, amid a global economic slowdown. The previous record drop was in February 1986, the Associated Press reported.
Crude fell in reaction to a report that manufacturing in the United States contracted in October at the fastest pace in 26 years, Bloomberg News reported. Slowing manufacturing equals declining fuel consumption.
“There’s negative economic news coming from everywhere,’’ said Phil Flynn, senior trader at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. “The manufacturing number doesn’t bode well for future oil demand.’’
Bayram Dincer, a commodity research analyst at Germany’s Dresdner Bank, told Bloomberg News today] that crude prices could drop to $55 this year.
Mike Thornbrugh, a spokesman for QuikTrip Corp. in Tulsa, Okla., said “you’ve never seen so many smiling faces from our customers and employees“ as gasoline prices have fallen.
“People were spending $30, $40, $50 more just to fill up their cars. That’s a lot of income that families need,“ he said.
Donald Bartling of Bellevue was surprised to see $1.99 gas at the Fantasy Food-N-Fuel at 10110 Cornhusker Road.
“That’s good that it’s going down,“ he said. “The question is, ’How long is it going to last?’“
Lorrie Greenawalt, manager of Fantasy’s near Interstate 80 and Giles Road, said the station was busy since the $1.99 price went up this morning.
“Our whole lot got filled,“ she said.
Customers can’t believe the price is under $2, Greenawalt said.
“I was coming for gas anyway, but I actually called my wife and said, ’Can you believe I’m buying gas for $1.99?’“ said Devon Johnk of Omaha.
Lynn Washington, who was at Bucky’s Express in Council Bluffs, said she wondered if there was a downside to the price decline.
“Does this mean the economy is better, or is the economy so bad something’s got to give?“ Washington said.
AAA computes average price by gathering data from 100,000 gas stations nationwide, based on the previous night’s last credit-card swipe, White said.
Prices are updated daily, including weekends. They are available at www.fuelgaugereport.com/index.asp.
Asked where the bottom will be on oil prices, White said, “I just don’t know. We fell from a high of $147 a barrel to $63 in a few short months - that’s a reduction of over half - and it’s something that not too many analysts had predicted.“
White cited the following encouraging developments:
• India has built the world’s largest oil refinery that goes online this month. “They want to be a major player in the global market,“ White said.
• Brazil is becoming a major exporter of oil products, since the discovery of a large oil deposit off its coast. India and Brazil are not members of OPEC.
• Consumer consumption has declined.
~*~
Do you think that it is a good thing that gasoline prices and oil have gone down, or do you think that it is a sign that we are close to hitting the bottom (regarding futures).
I think that while we are enjoying the gasoline hovering $2.00, that it is not a good sign for the future, and I would not be overly shocked if it spiked in a hurry back up to where we were a month ago.
Gasoline under $2 a gallon in metro area
BY CHET MULLIN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Motorists across the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area were delighted today to find gasoline at less than $2 a gallon at certain stations, a level not seen for at least three years.
“This just thrills me,“ said Sue James of Omaha, a retail merchandiser who drives from store to store to ensure that displays are up and products are stocked.
James was filling her car’s gas tank with the ethanol blend, at $1.96.9 a gallon, at Bucky’s Express in Council Bluffs. Signs at several other stations along West Broadway showed $1.99 a gallon.
Rose White of AAA Nebraska said regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.28 a gallon across the state today. Prices were even lower in some places, such as Omaha, where there is strong competition, White said.
The last time prices for regular unleaded were below $2 a gallon was February 2005, White said.
In Iowa, AAA reported, regular unleaded averaged $2.14. The national average was $2.39 per gallon.
Prices could go lower.
The price for processed unleaded fuel dropped 8 cents a gallon on the commodities market Monday to close at $1.42, White said. If prices remain at that level, gas at the pump also could drop by approximately the same amount, she said.
Most Fantasy’s Food-N-Fuel and Bucky’s Express stations were selling gas at $1.99 or less this morning. Corporate spokesmen declined to comment.
Lower gas prices is a good-news, bad-news situation.
Oil futures have declined 33 percent in October, a monthly record, amid a global economic slowdown. The previous record drop was in February 1986, the Associated Press reported.
Crude fell in reaction to a report that manufacturing in the United States contracted in October at the fastest pace in 26 years, Bloomberg News reported. Slowing manufacturing equals declining fuel consumption.
“There’s negative economic news coming from everywhere,’’ said Phil Flynn, senior trader at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. “The manufacturing number doesn’t bode well for future oil demand.’’
Bayram Dincer, a commodity research analyst at Germany’s Dresdner Bank, told Bloomberg News today] that crude prices could drop to $55 this year.
Mike Thornbrugh, a spokesman for QuikTrip Corp. in Tulsa, Okla., said “you’ve never seen so many smiling faces from our customers and employees“ as gasoline prices have fallen.
“People were spending $30, $40, $50 more just to fill up their cars. That’s a lot of income that families need,“ he said.
Donald Bartling of Bellevue was surprised to see $1.99 gas at the Fantasy Food-N-Fuel at 10110 Cornhusker Road.
“That’s good that it’s going down,“ he said. “The question is, ’How long is it going to last?’“
Lorrie Greenawalt, manager of Fantasy’s near Interstate 80 and Giles Road, said the station was busy since the $1.99 price went up this morning.
“Our whole lot got filled,“ she said.
Customers can’t believe the price is under $2, Greenawalt said.
“I was coming for gas anyway, but I actually called my wife and said, ’Can you believe I’m buying gas for $1.99?’“ said Devon Johnk of Omaha.
Lynn Washington, who was at Bucky’s Express in Council Bluffs, said she wondered if there was a downside to the price decline.
“Does this mean the economy is better, or is the economy so bad something’s got to give?“ Washington said.
AAA computes average price by gathering data from 100,000 gas stations nationwide, based on the previous night’s last credit-card swipe, White said.
Prices are updated daily, including weekends. They are available at www.fuelgaugereport.com/index.asp.
Asked where the bottom will be on oil prices, White said, “I just don’t know. We fell from a high of $147 a barrel to $63 in a few short months - that’s a reduction of over half - and it’s something that not too many analysts had predicted.“
White cited the following encouraging developments:
• India has built the world’s largest oil refinery that goes online this month. “They want to be a major player in the global market,“ White said.
• Brazil is becoming a major exporter of oil products, since the discovery of a large oil deposit off its coast. India and Brazil are not members of OPEC.
• Consumer consumption has declined.
~*~
Do you think that it is a good thing that gasoline prices and oil have gone down, or do you think that it is a sign that we are close to hitting the bottom (regarding futures).
I think that while we are enjoying the gasoline hovering $2.00, that it is not a good sign for the future, and I would not be overly shocked if it spiked in a hurry back up to where we were a month ago.