AP Oil analyst Tom Kloza said he expects to see retail prices below
$2 a gallon in some markets by the end of this year.


Gas Prices Plummet Amid Falling Demand
(AP)
NEW YORK (Oct. 23) - The average retail price of a gallon of gasoline
in the United States plunged more than 25 cents in the past two weeks,
as refining capacity was restored and demand slowed, a survey showed
Sunday.

Still, prices remained slightly higher than pre-Hurricane Katrina
levels.

The national average for self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline was
$2.6587 a gallon on Oct. 21, down about 25.3 cents per gallon from Oct.
7, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 6,000 gas
stations.

"This is the biggest drop in a two week period that we have ever seen
in our many decades surveying the gasoline market, survey editor Trilby
Lundberg said.

Supply is up due to restoration of refining capacity, which was damaged
during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lundberg said.

Demand was dampened as consumers cut back on gasoline consumption in
response to skyrocketing prices, as well as by evacuations of areas
such as the Gulf Coast.

Of the areas surveyed, Honolulu had the highest average price at $3.03
a gallon for self-serve, regular unleaded gas on Oct. 21, while the
lowest average price was $2.20 a gallon in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Preliminary data shows gasoline demand is 2 percent to 3 percent lower
than a year ago, Lundberg said.

The current U.S. average price for a gallon of gasoline is just 3 cents
above the pre-Katrina price, Lundberg said.

"It's been a real roller coaster since then," she said.

"The supply and demand were grossly out of balance and remain somewhat
out of balance in the gas market,'' Lundberg said. "But that balance is
normalizing as refining capacity is brought back up.''

Lundberg said she expected the cost-cutting to continue in the coming
weeks unless an extreme winter drives up heating oil demand and affects
the price of crude oil and its derivatives.

Lundberg said Hurricane Wilma, which is bearing down on Florida after
hitting Mexico, seems to be benign to gas supply, but not to gasoline
demand. "The evacuations do remove some demand."

10-23-05 15:55 EDT

Good, now maybe someone can explain the predicted hike in natural gas
prices.

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:22:59 +0000, Doug Kanter wrote:

Good, now maybe someone can explain the predicted hike in natural gas
prices.

Maybe? :

http://www.culturechange.org/fall_pe...tural_gas.html

"OlBlueEyes" wrote in message
...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:

Good, now maybe someone can explain the predicted hike in natural gas
prices.

Uhhhh... winter's coming?

What a moron.

You must be one of the airheads who thought the majority of the hike in
gasoline prices (BEFORE the hurricanes) was "China". The simple answer.

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:22:59 +0000, Doug Kanter wrote:

Good, now maybe someone can explain the predicted hike in natural gas
prices.

Maybe? :

http://www.culturechange.org/fall_pe...tural_gas.html


I don't know.....blue eyes says it's because of winter. But, the hikes being
mentioned on the news are beyond the usual seasonal adjustments. He must be
right, though.
puke

Doug Kanter wrote:
"thunder" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:22:59 +0000, Doug Kanter wrote:


Good, now maybe someone can explain the predicted hike in natural gas
prices.

Maybe? :

http://www.culturechange.org/fall_pe...tural_gas.html



I don't know.....blue eyes says it's because of winter. But, the hikes being
mentioned on the news are beyond the usual seasonal adjustments. He must be
right, though.
puke


They tell us around here that the price of natural gas is somehow linked
to the price of oil. Lot of people were disappointed when our offshore
gas came in and it wasn't worthwhile to convert oil furnaces to gas.
Supposedly better to send all our gas stateside while we burn dirty coal
for our electricity and oil for heating fuel. Go figure!

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"OlBlueEyes" wrote in message
...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:

Good, now maybe someone can explain the predicted hike in natural gas
prices.

Uhhhh... winter's coming?

What a moron.

You must be one of the airheads who thought the majority of the hike in
gasoline prices (BEFORE the hurricanes) was "China". The simple answer.

The price of gasoline starts to rise in the middle of may and it usually
descends in the middle of September. This year was an exception because of
the hurricanes and the damage that those hurricanes wrought in the Gulf of
Mexico. Now, the oil prices are starting to descend and of course the
natural gass prices are starting to rise it really is starting to get cold.

"OlBlueEyes" wrote in message
...
"Bert Robbins" wrote in news:TPidnT9XbdWp9sDeRVn-
:

The price of gasoline starts to rise in the middle of may and it usually
descends in the middle of September.

And that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the so-called "summer driving
season". Think about it - the fuel needed to transport EVERY SCHOOL KID
IN THE COUNTRY during September through May is FAR MORE than the fuel
needed to transport small percentages of the population as they take ONE
vacation.

The real reason that gas prices go up in the summer is - you guessed it -
GOVERNMENT. Due to a ridiculous patchwork of useless environmental
regulations, there are about FORTY different gasoline formulations during
the summer. Now, is it cheaper for refineries to crank out FORTY
different formulas? Or ONE?

I know nothing about what you said in that last paragraph, except that you
said "ridiculous". Since you made the statement, you must be fairly well
informed about these gasoline formulations. What's their purpose, and why
are they particular to summer?

"OlBlueEyes" wrote in message
...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:


"OlBlueEyes" wrote in message
...
"Bert Robbins" wrote in news:TPidnT9XbdWp9sDeRVn-
:

The price of gasoline starts to rise in the middle of may and it
usually descends in the middle of September.

And that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the so-called "summer
driving season". Think about it - the fuel needed to transport EVERY
SCHOOL KID IN THE COUNTRY during September through May is FAR MORE
than the fuel needed to transport small percentages of the population
as they take ONE vacation.

The real reason that gas prices go up in the summer is - you guessed
it - GOVERNMENT. Due to a ridiculous patchwork of useless
environmental regulations, there are about FORTY different gasoline
formulations during the summer. Now, is it cheaper for refineries to
crank out FORTY different formulas? Or ONE?

I know nothing about what you said in that last paragraph, except that
you said "ridiculous". Since you made the statement, you must be
fairly well informed about these gasoline formulations. What's their
purpose, and why are they particular to summer?

Their supposed purpose is to reduce pollution and improve air quality.
The stated reason that they're particular to summer is because hotter
humid summer air is more prone to cause respiratory problems. Of course
it also lets politicians (falsely) blame oil companies for "gouging"
during the "summer driving season" (which, as I pointed out above, is NOT
the time of heaviest motor fuel usage).

And, these additives cause 20% price hikes? You should write to your elected
representatives.

"OlBlueEyes" wrote in message
...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:


"OlBlueEyes" wrote in message
...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:


"OlBlueEyes" wrote in message
...
"Bert Robbins" wrote in news:TPidnT9XbdWp9sDeRVn-
:

The price of gasoline starts to rise in the middle of may and it
usually descends in the middle of September.

And that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the so-called "summer
driving season". Think about it - the fuel needed to transport
EVERY SCHOOL KID IN THE COUNTRY during September through May is FAR
MORE than the fuel needed to transport small percentages of the
population as they take ONE vacation.

The real reason that gas prices go up in the summer is - you
guessed it - GOVERNMENT. Due to a ridiculous patchwork of useless
environmental regulations, there are about FORTY different gasoline
formulations during the summer. Now, is it cheaper for refineries
to crank out FORTY different formulas? Or ONE?

I know nothing about what you said in that last paragraph, except
that you said "ridiculous". Since you made the statement, you must
be fairly well informed about these gasoline formulations. What's
their purpose, and why are they particular to summer?

Their supposed purpose is to reduce pollution and improve air
quality. The stated reason that they're particular to summer is
because hotter humid summer air is more prone to cause respiratory
problems. Of course it also lets politicians (falsely) blame oil
companies for "gouging" during the "summer driving season" (which, as
I pointed out above, is NOT the time of heaviest motor fuel usage).

And, these additives cause 20% price hikes?

Let's see YOUR company switch its manufacturing infrastructure from
producing ONE product to producing FORTY and see if your costs remain
constant.

This assumes you work for a company, of course, rather than for a non-
real-world job such as academia or government.

Two separate issues:

1) If oil companies haven't streamlined a seasonal process by now, they have
no business expecting customers to pay the price for their incompetence.

2) Academia isn't a real-world entity? Where are you sending YOUR kids for
their edumikation?