RGrew176 wrote:
Actually it is already almost 5 dollars a gallon at a marina here in S/E
Michigan. $4.969 to be exact.


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RGrew176

That's discouraging news. Even though the price of fuel is a relatively
minor consideration for many boaters- (as in if you're making $24,000 a
year in boat payments does it really matter if your summer fuel bill
goes from $2500 up to $3500?)- these unusually high fuel prices tend to
make people think twice or thrice about using their boats.

I don't think it's a situation of supply and demand at all. It's a case
of "we got you by the short hairs, we know you'll pay at least as much
as you did last year, and we need another round of record-breaking
profits to crank our share values up to the next level."

Gas station prices for 92-octane broke $3 this week at a lot of local
stations. It's only the middle of April, and they will proably keep
going up through Labor Day (simply because they can). At the risk of
wandering over near the OT border- perhaps there will be some political
pressure on the oil companies to keep prices in check, at least
slightly, this year. Dropping them in October may be too late to be of
much PR benefit to the party hoping to maintain a congressional
majority. There's no direct connection between who's in office and oil
prices, but John Q Public is more likely to vote "for change" if he's
feeling unhappy, and while a lot of national and international issues
are pretty abstract it doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice that
it's costing $75-$100 to fill up the F250. It will be interesting to
see how this plays out.

I'm glad I've got two nearly full tanks. I'd top off right now if I
wasn't still hauled out for refit, as any fuel bought weeks from now is
surely going to be a lot more expensive.