How high will gasoline go in 2012

Filled up at Costco at 4.21 for 87 and 4.40 for 91.

Pulled up to the pump and wish i could've taken a picture but it was too crowded and didn't want to be "that guy". There was a yellow Hummer H2 lifted on what had to be 40 inch mud terrains and dual 3 inch exhaust tips there before me and his numbers were 32 gallons and change with a total of $140 and some change...why he put 91 I have no clue.
It was nice getting out of there with $33.68 on the display...yup, I can handle the "gay car" comments once it hits $5.

 

We can expect headlines like this if gas prices get any higher. The Prius c is arriving just in time to join the party.

Interest in Toyota, GM compacts, hybrids jumps in January

 

Most interesting city on that list is ...

Second-most expensive: Oslo, Norway
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $9.33
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $9.69

Interesting because they export oil. OPEC (and US nearly so) countries practically give it away free in comparison. Iran & Venezuela have/had prices below $1 a gallon.

 

Peak Oil (conventional), has forced a new economic delimma for the world.

In the old days a call to the Saudi King would do the trick. Saudi Arabia had excess capacity and they could open the tap wider anytime they wanted to cool the oil market. Ever since 2005 they have lost that ability. Saudis no longer control world oil prices. Just another obvious side effect of Peak Oil.

To an extent Obama owes his presidency to the run up in oil prices and subsequent financial collapse. It will be ironic if the oil price run up next time caused him to lose the election.

Because of Peak Oil the oil prices will go up whenever the demand goes up i.e. whenever the economy seems to be recovering. But Obama needs a robust economy to win - and that robust economic growth will spike the oil prices which will sync the economy & re-election chances.

1. Higher price of oil causes economic stress leading to recession (2008)
2. Recession lowers demand causing the oil price to plummet (2009)
3. The economy slowly recovers (2010-12)
4. Recovering economy increases oil demand (2012-?)
5. More oil demand increases oil price. (?)
6. Back to step 1 (?)

I expect great political churn as this cycles becomes more apparent.

ps : The cycle of oil prices & economy getting into this viscious cycle is explained well by the noted economist Jeff Rubin in his book "Jeff Rubin: Peak Oil Will Make Our World A Whole Lot Smaller".

Jeff Rubin: Peak Oil Will Make Our World A Whole Lot Smaller : TreeHugger

 

Was it high oil prices that caused the mortgage and housing industries to collapse?

I can just see WaMu and Countrywide and Lehman Brothers executives claiming their houses of cards would have remained standing if gas didn't get so expensive.

 

Depends on the stock market. If the market goes up, so will oil futures buying, and gas prices will go up. Obama has done nothing about this basic problem, which started during Bush jr's tenure. Gas prices are indexed daily to oil futures prices. Electricity is now indexed quarterly to oil prices, in case you haven't noticed in your rates.

 

Because despite high petrol prices, Norway is still the best Country in the World to live.

World

I was surprised America came 4th in the list. I was also not totally surprised that the UK came 28th - just above Greece and the UAE! It appears the price of fuel has no bearing on happiness.

 

Per Auto Sales - Markets Data Center - WSJ.com, they were up in January 2012 vs. January 2011.

Yep. Let's see if it happens again, as it has in the past... when gas prices go up, people complain, dump their full-sized SUVs and are suddenly interested in more efficient vehicles. When they go back down, the opposite happens, instead of planning for future possible price spikes.

Of course, when polled, most of the public wants higher FE standards. No need for the government to raise standards and for them to go in effect. One can take personal responsibility by buying a more efficient vehicles in the first place. All 3 generations of Prius and all the current members of the Prius family are past the "54.5 mpg" fleet average by 2025 standard for CAFE purposes which equates to ~36-38 mpg combined on the sticker..

 

Interesting breakdown of our fuel costs;

Diesel prices reach record-high £1.50 a litre and there is more pain on the way for motorists | Mail Online

At £1.35 a litre (£5/$7.93 US gallon) of unleaded, the tax man takes £0.58p tax AND £0.23p sales tax. They can't reduce this as our Chancellor has admitted we haven't any more money left!?! Diesel has hit £5.50 a US gallon or $8.80.

At least I don't live in Greece which is bordering on colapse

News Headlines

 

Anyone know the most economical vehicle for towing a 3500 LB load?

BTW, I tow with a Highlander now and get around 12-13 mpg. Do you think the Hybrid would get any better?

 

Might not reach $5, and if correct, Iran settles down, price will plummet down below $3.
$5 Gas Prices? Think Again Says Flynn | Breakout - Yahoo! Finance

Also seems correct to say, there is really no reason for the price to be what it is, it is simply caused by speculators.

 

Can't speak to the mileage while towing, but The most fuel-efficient SUVs and Best & worst cars review, fuel-efficient vehicles should give you an idea of the mileage delta w/o towing.

I can look up your year of Highlander and see what CR got on that generation.

 

Depending on what it is that you're towing, you don't really need a full sized SUV to tow a 3500# load.
Here's a news flash for you. If you have trailer brakes....a Hyundai Elantra can tow almost 3100# (!) That's FACTORY tow rating.
If you don't have trailer brakes, it's only 1500#.
Saab 9-3's are also factory rated to tow 3500, and their EPA is something like 21/31.
Volvo S60's can yank around 3,300# @ around 20/30MPG.
Even a Corolla is factory rated to tow 1,500.

Like I said....depends on what/where you're toting the load, but my next truck is probably not going to be a truck, since my heaviest loads are (normally) 1,100 pounds worth of mower and/or 1500 pounds worth of motorcycles.
Of course.....it won't be a Prius either, but right now the Hyundai or even a Corolla is looking pretty good to tow everything that I have to haul down the road.

YMMV!

 

Is the Highlander considered a full sized SUV?

Boat Hull - 1550 lb
Engine - 375
Misc. - 200
Trailer - 1000?

Total 3,125 lb

 

No, it's considered a mid-sized SUV.

Side note: GM would by the URL (http://www.chevrolet.com/tahoe-mid-size-suv/features-specs/?styleIds=331395^331396^331397&tab=tabHighlights) would lead you to believe that the monstrosity class full-sized Tahoe is a "mid-size" SUV. Right... I'm sure mid-sized SUVs weigh >5400 lbs...

 

Hey I called it first (lower price) in my first post before I got onto the cost increase bandwagon. The other thing someone pointed out due election year there will be efforts to reduce price. You are correct there is an argument that gasoline costs are actually heading down except for the Iran crisis. Any downside price prediction must be predicated on no crisis in the Middle East.

 

Not as optimistic. I believe gas will spike briefly above $6, in cities known for higher prices, some time before the first of the year. Hope I'm wrong.

 

Already, new-vehicle shopping sites, like AOL Autos, are seeing consideration and interest in hybrid vehicles climb off the recent gas price hikes and forecasts of even higher prices. The National Automotive Dealers Association's first-quarter report shows hybrid sales up 42 percent over last year.

The factors driving up prices include the closure of two major refineries in the Eastern U.S., rising demand for gasoline in China and oil in Northern Europe and uncertainty over Iran's threats to disrupt oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz.

Still, the Republican National Committee will release a web video today that features a clip of Obama's singing of "Sweet Home Chicago" during a White House blues concert behind a chart showing gas prices rising from $1.85 per gallon when he took office in 2009 to $3.59 this month. The ad is titled "Obama's Got America Singing the Blues." Gas prices had topped $4 per gallon during 2008, but plummeted in time for Obama's inaugural as demand fell during the economic meltdown that began in the Fall of that year.

http://autos.aol.com/article/gas-prices-climbing-fast-hurts-obama-and-helps-hybrid-sales/

 

Part can also be attributed to california, that closed their refineries to switch to summer blends just when the iran stuff was going on. This can be noted by the rocky mountain states, whose supply is not effected by California, did not have the same gas spike. When cali is back on winter blend, and if iran and opec calm down, speculators will have to cover and prices will drop again.