I have noticed (to my dismay) that the price of diesel fuel has migrated to about 10 cents above the price of premium.
Is this the case elsewhere? I can't see a legitimate reason for this, but fuel prices are rarely transparent.
I am speaking of the US market.
Bernard
Diesel prices in Atlanta have gone up almost 50 cents per gallon over the last month. It is running about the same as mid-grade gasoline, $1.95-1.98/gal.
yeah, I'm in UT and it's $.15 higher than gasoline... cheaper to refine mean more profit magine I guess. I think it's those napolean syndrome diesel huge jcaked up pickup truck drivers who only haule their ego and spend $40,000 on a truck that gets 10 MPG, with their modified train sounding like exhaust that's pushing up the price and demand.
it has to do with the shutdown of gulf platforms and refineries and the start of the heating season, we are getting humped by a set of circumstances, I can see $3 a gallon real soon
it's always easy to find a scapegoat, eh?
Ouch, I guess I will get some of this pain real soon now as I need to by heating oil for two homes... Yikes.
Marty
SF Bay Area $2.49/gal. Cost of sulfur removal and additional road tax put price to premium gas level some years ago.
Also in the UK diesel costs about the same as petrol, as opposed to being much cheaper as in many European countries.
Hasn't stopped the increase in sales of diesel cars, however.
DAS
I can't see a legit excuse for this either. The tax in California is
10 cents higher than gasoline but still, diesel is garbage fuel compared to gas and the resulting cost ($2.35/gal) at the pump is not justified IMHO.
If you US guys start to pay more than 3 $ per gallon, you should buy a Diesel and ask your governor for abolishment of your speed limit, because then you have driving conditions like in Germany;-)
To be honest: one gallon of diesel fuel costs about 4 US$ in Germany. For gas you pay more than 5 US$, because the tax on gas is higher than the tax on diesel fuel.
Frank
It varies by region. Here in NJ, it's $1.81, which is about 7 cents less than unleaded regular. Diesel fluctuates with home heating oil, so with peak demand season approaching in a tight market, it's not unusual for it to be moving up.
We'd better get used to higher fuel prices. One thing that is not widely publisized is that China is now a net importer of oil. The guy who brokered a huge oil deal between Kawait and China is my next door neighbor (in California). He also brokered a deal to ship 5,000 new MB trucks (thru Brazil) to the Chinese oil fields a while back. He looks like a chicken farmer but owns a hotel in Bejing, condo in Hong Kong, plastics injection company, etc. Very interesting guy, connected very high up in the Chinese government. China's thirst for steel has driven the price of hot rolled material here in California to $.65 per pound. Even scrap metal is 25-cents or more per pound. Things are changing as Nixon called it many years ago when he said China will become the economic giant of the 21st century.
Where is $1.81? I am seeing $2.09 up here.
Fuel tax here is (last i heard) 18.5 cents per gallon national tax and a 7.4cent per gallon state tax.
Exactly. Peanuts.
DAS
Looks much better than my deal for Britain in the Soviet days. I sent them
100 Rolls-Royce cars and in return I got 5000 parking spaces from Siberia for London.DAS
Interestingly NJ almost always has the lowest prices for gas/deisel in the US and every station is Full service (ie no self serve).
It turns out it more expensive to insure a gas station for self serve, then to keep a full time employee who is trained in dispensing fuel.
Strange but true. Marty
That may be a new urban legend, but it's not the reason for the lower gas price. There isn't any substantial safety difference in self service, which is why 48 states allow it. In fact, the gasoline retailers in NJ have been in favor of allowing self service for a long time as a way of reducing cost, by having less employees.
The biggest factor is tax. NJ has one of the lowest state gas taxes in the country. NY is 30c, CA 32c, NJ is only 14c. Plus there are major refineries located in NJ, which lowers the transportation costs. People drive to another state, look at prices and don't realize they are comparing apples to oranges.
These two states consistently have the lowest prices also...
That is a big difference... But does it apply to deisel?
Do they pump the oil out of the ground there too?
Not so, go look in Montana where there a lot of refineries and very low taxes.
I am not clear which is the urban legend :~)
Marty
that could be true, but other reasons are low fuel taxes and proximity to the refineries that keep transport costs low
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