Price Gouging after the Flood

[YoungTulsan]

I think Shell stations are just there for people who have been banned from QT for one reason or another.

[mr.jaynes]

Hey, at Quik-Trip, as you're paying for your purchases, do they still ask "chips or anything else?"

[sauerkraut]

Hey gang something is going on with the fuel prices, We just had a fuel hike from $3.05 to $3.19 a gallon. Shell & Speedway gas stations seem the most fast & eger to raise the prices, then in less than a hour the new price is all over town. I guess someone sneezed inside a refinery or something. Should a hurricane hit now we can expect to pass the $4.00 mark I do believe. I have not heard of any hurricanes brewing so far.[xx(]

[dsjeffries]

KOTV is reporting another hike in prices coming this week (get this) due to Coffeyville.  Just yesterday, I saw gas jump another 5-10 cents.

This is ludicrous.  Does anyone know where we can find information regarding Tulsa's agreement with the EPA, and where to find out exactly where Tulsa's oil/fuel comes from???

I'm writing letters! [!]

[sauerkraut]

This is all price Gouging, the fuel prices are still creeping up and no one knows of any rason for it. We (in Ohio) don't get fuel from Kansas. People's driving is down a bit too. I looked at the at web site www.gaspricewatch.com and fuel prices are up all over it seems. I wonder if the oil companies are doing it to see how high they can go and get away with it, and get everyone use-to $3.00 a gallon gasoline, then they will push $4.00 a gallon and fall back to $3.00 a gallon and everyone would think they are getting a bargan. The dollar hike in price per gallon in February-March '07 was one for the record books, the pump prices went from under $2.00 a gallon to over $3.00 a gallon in a short span of time- even though a barrel of oil came down in price during that time.[B)]

[patric]

Some bits and pieces about our "Early Action Compacts" (EAC) with EPA:


"Like many other regions, Tulsa has experienced in recent weeks sharp increases in gasoline prices. Here's why: our local regulators have entered into an agreement with EPA so that a special gasoline with 8.2 Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) is sold in Tulsa county during summer months. Tulsa is the only area in the nation where this particular gasoline is sold. As a result, no refiner manufactures it, but rather two different gasolines are mixed together to meet the 8.2 specification. Most of these two kinds of gasoline come from refineries on the Gulf Coast and are transported by pipeline to Tulsa. That was not a problem in 1999. Unfortunately, since last year, 98 counties in East Texas that are along the pipeline that connects Tulsa to the Gulf Coast refineries now require one of the gasolines that is blended to make Tulsa's fuel. That increased demand from motorists in the Texas counties caused an increase in the price of gasoline in our Tulsa market when the summer driving season began. Once again, this is a simple case of the relationship of supply, demand and price."
Written Statement of James McCarthy
General Manager, CITGO Petroleum Corporation
Before the Senate Agriculture Committee
July 20, 2000
http://agriculture.senate.gov/Hearings/Hearings_2000/July_20__2000/00720mcc.htm


A backbone of the program is the voluntary agreement of our gasoline suppliers to reduce the  Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) of gasoline provided at Tulsa area stations.  Lowering the vapor pressure of gasoline reduces evaporation rates and provides significantly less hydrocarbon emissions within the Tulsa area during the ozone season.
http://www.incog.org/Environmental/AQ%20Curriculum/web%20June%2004/6-8%20Section%203.htm#Tulsa%20Ozone%20Alert%20Program


Making Tulsa's Voluntary RVP Program Mandatory
The backbone of Tulsa's ozone alert program has been the voluntary agreement of Tulsa's gasoline suppliers to reduce the Reid Vapor Pressure of gasoline provided at Tulsa area stations.  In 1991 the voluntary reductions was to 8.5 psi from 9.0 psi.  In 1995, gasoline RVP averaged 8.3 psi.  The last two ozone seasons, the gasoline retailers in the Tulsa metro area voluntarily provided gasoline with a 7.8 RVP.  A strategy to be considered for the Early Action Compact SIP could be to make this voluntary program mandatory by state or local rule making.
http://www.deq.state.ok.us/AQDnew/whatsnew/SIP/presentations/Control%20Strategies%20version%201.doc



DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Air Act
In accordance with Departmental Policy and 28 CFR 50.7, notice is
hereby given that a proposed Consent Decree in United States of America
v. Sun Co. Inc. (R&M), Civil Action No. 97-CV-104H, was lodged in the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma on
August 14, 1997. The proposed Consent Decree settles the United States
claims for injunctive relief and civil penalties in the Complaint.
   Under the terms of the proposed Agreement and Order, Sun Co. Inc.
(R&M) (``Sun'') will pay a civil penalty, perform two supplemental
environmental projects (``SEPs''), and perform injunctive relief. The
cash amount of the civil penalty is $100,000. The first SEP will reduce
the reid vapor pressure of the 87 octane gasoline sold through non-
pipeline transactions in the Tulsa area during the 1997 Ozone Season
from 8.2 to 8.0. The second SEP will provide $50,000 worth of free bus
service in Tulsa County on ozone alert days.
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-GENERAL/1997/August/Day-28/g22883.htm

[restored2x]

Do I understand correctly from what patric posted, only 87 octane gas is the special stuff? If so - why are the other grades going up in price as well?

Can't be - I'm missing something or reading too much into it.

Also - was Sun being punished for something it did or didn't do? Seems that the punishment is being used to rape consumers now.

Nah - I'm just paranoid.

[dsjeffries]

Thanks for the information, patric.  I did a little searching of my own this afternoon, but the whole not knowing where to look thing really didn't help.

Thanks again!

[AMP]

Still lower in Henderson, Texas than in Bartlesville.  Tonight in Bartlesville Quick Trip was at $3.18 per gallon.  

http://www.gaspricewatch.com/new/default_V3.asp

Type in Henderson, Texas and check their Regular Unleaded Gas prices.  I paid $2.72 there Sunday night heading back to Tulsa just  320 miles North of Henderson.  

Tulsa QT price when I hit town early Monday moring was $3.09 ? ? ?

[YoungTulsan]

I think it was $3.09 yesterday, and went up to $3.19 today in Tulsa.  Just bought $54 worth of gas myself.

[dsjeffries]

*Luckily* (I say luckily in a way that doesn't make $3/gallon sound good) it's still $2.99 - $3.04 in Skiatook, but I expect prices to jump in the morning.

[YoungTulsan]

It was maybe 10-12 years ago I remember gas hitting 75 cents a gallon.  (Im young so thats the cheapest Ive ever seen)

[dsjeffries]

quote:Originally posted by YoungTulsan

It was maybe 10-12 years ago I remember gas hitting 75 cents a gallon.  (Im young so thats the cheapest Ive ever seen)

Me, too.  My car used to fill up for $10 (12 gallon tank).  Now it takes about $35.  There's something wrong with that!

I remember when dad wouldn't visit the full-service station (Skiatook still had one until about 5 years ago) because gas was $1.10/gal.

[AMP]

I am not that old as I am far from collecting Social Security benefis, when I first started driving, gasoline cost 16 cents per gallon, and a Cheeseburger was around 14 cents, a soda pop in a glass bottle was a nickle with the deposit of 2 cents on the glass bottle.

That came with full service, with two or more lane attendants that checked your tire pressure, cleaned you windshield, checked and topped off your oil, and other lubricants, checked you belts and condition of all visible engine components.  Collected payment from you and said Thank You, I appreciate your business with a big smile, and you never left the comfort of the front seat of your car.

For over 100 years Gasoline sold for less than 99 cents per gallon.  However, within less than ten years after moving above one dollar per gallon, it topped $3.50 per gallon.

[YoungTulsan]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

I am not that old as I am far from collecting Social Security benefis, when I first started driving, gasoline cost 16 cents per gallon, and a Cheeseburger was around 14 cents, a soda pop in a glass bottle was a nickle with the deposit of 2 cents on the glass bottle.

Lets dissect this for a moment....

Gas, from $0.16 to $3.19

Cheeseburger, from $0.14 to $0.99 (sometimes as low as $0.49 when McDonalds feels sassy)

Bottle of pop, from $0.05 to $1.19 (PLUS it is now in a plastic bottle, and they don't use real sugar)

From the looks of things, the pop industry is gouging us just as much, if not more, than the gas industry.  The product has gotten a lot worse, and the prices are outrageous.  A bottle of pop should run about 30-50 cents these days.  The pop companies really have us by the balls.  It is all marketing, and the market accepting the price.

Cheeseburgers are a pretty good deal, considering