Price of diesel (US)

Here in GA the state gasoline and diesel tax is just 7.5c with prices this week at $1.85 for reg unleaded and $1.95 for diesel. Why, over the past 2-3 months has diesel fuel gone up about 40c/gal while gasoline has stayed at about its normal levels?

a bit of price gouging because heating oil season is upon the northern us

We're running into the same stuff in Canada (Nova Scotia, at least). Diesel went from 81.9 cents per litre to 90.9 a couple of days ago. Last year, I could get it for 63.9. It was about 20% cheaper than regular gas, now it's the same.

Last weekend my brother and I test drove a Smart with the CDI engine. The way fuel proces are going, it's a consideration...

Tim Delaney

You're not kidding!

I just paid $2.24 here in Detroit!

Which, by the way is even MORE than premium gasoline. . .

- Bill '66 912 '74 240D

Consistently the lowest prices? Oh really? The other state besides NJ that doesn't allow self service is Oregon. Here from AAA are current prices for various areas:

The highest I see for Oregon is $2.27, the lowest $2.09 From the same site, South Carolina is $1.84 to $2.12. Georgia is $1.86 to $2.14. Well, there goes that argument. BTW, South Carolina and Georgia have some of the lowest state taxes on gasoline. Funny how that seems to correlate a lot better with the price than whether you get to pump it yourself.

Yes, let's look at Montana. The refining capacity of Montana is nowhere near that of NJ, however the demand there is much less too, so the refining issue is likely a wash. Now let's look at gas prices and taxes.

Here's a site that posts current gas prices for Montana:

Let's throw out the highest and lowest prices, as they may be aberrations, though if they're left in, the result is about the same. We're left with a price range of $1.92 to $2.08 with lots of price points in between, which looks very reasonable.

Now let's look at NJ:

Excluding the single highest and lowest, we have a price range of $1.86 to $1.95.

Now let's look at taxes. This is exactly what I meant by comparing apples to oranges. Contrary to what you think, Montana is not a state with low gasoline taxes. In fact, Montana has the 10th highest gasoline tax in the country. The state tax on gasoline in Montana is

27.8c In NJ, it's 14.5c, which is 13.3c less. That difference exactly equals the difference in the above retail high prices between the two states and it's fairly close to the low price difference too.

I've heard lots of debate in NJ over the years about the pros and cons of self service. Lots of newspaper articles have been written and opinions and issues expressed by all sides. This is the first time I've heard anyone make the assertion that the cost of gasoline in NJ is lower because of issues of insurance cost for self service. Plus if that were a significant factor, then how do you explain that Oregon's prices, where self service is prohibited are substantially higher than states like SC and GA, where it is allowed?

That's why I said it sounds like an urban legend, and unless I see some proof otherwise, which I notice is lacking, that's where it stays.

I stand corrected. Thanks Chet.

Marty

Diesel has gone up more because of supply and demand. Home heating season is here and demand for home heating oil, which come from the same refinery stream as diesel, are increasing. At the same time, the high peak gas summer driving season is over, taking some of the pressure off gasoline. It's not unusual to see this happen in a tight market like we're in now.

Makes sense, Chet - thanks for your reply.

In Brazil they have ethanol for half the price of petrol based fuel and the vehicles can run on either. Why is that not done everywhere?

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AFAIK, for two main reasons:

• Brazil produces a lot of sugarcane, from which bio-ethanol can be made by fermentation and distillation. Local shipping then cuts costs.

• Engines burning ethanol differ slightly from those on straight petrol: hotter or something. Brazil got into the game decades ago and is geared up to run its vehicles that way.

The rest of the world _may_ run on bio-ethanol eventually, or on bio-diesel. Engines (again AFAIK) must be altered to handle pure bio-diesel. In *.UK, what sells as "bio-diesel" is usually 95% petrol to suit unadjusted engines. I hear that in *.DE they have gone all the way.

One thing to watch is that different feedstock crops (sugarcane, sugarbeet, rape (for oil) &c are subject to different economics in different climates. Cane is good for Brazil, rape for *.EU.

"They" may eventually produce engines suited to all these fuels, without adjustments.

-- Andrew Stephenson

Probably because they deforesting the Amazon and growing government subsidized corn there...

This is not an economic possibility in other climates or other geographic areas.

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