Unofficialbmw.com

[Henry]

Quaint.





Associated Press
Comtex News Network
Weather


Old gas pumps can't handle ever-rising prices

Chip Colville, owner of Colville's, Inc., checks the mechanical meters on a diesel fuel dispenser at his Chevron service station, Friday, April 25, 2008, in Reardan, Wash. Jeff T. Green

By JOHN K. WILEY (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press

May 13, 2008 12:32 AM EDT

REARDAN, Wash. - Mom-and-pop service stations are running into a problem as gasoline marches toward $4 a gallon: Thousands of old-fashioned pumps can't register more than $3.99 on their spinning mechanical dials.

The pumps, throwbacks to a bygone era on the American road, are difficult and expensive to upgrade, and replacing them is often out of the question for station owners who are still just scraping by.

Many of the same pumps can only count up to $99.99 for the total sale, preventing owners of some SUVs, vans, trucks and tractor-trailers to fill their tanks all the way.


As many as 8,500 of the nation's 170,000 service stations have old-style meters that need to be fixed - about 17,000 individual pumps, said Bob Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute of Tulsa, Okla.

At Chip Colville's Chevron station in this eastern Washington town, where men in the family have pumped gas since 1919, three stubby, gray pumps were installed when gas was less than $1 a gallon. They top out at $3.999, only 30 cents above the price of regular gas at Colville's station.

"In small towns, where you don't have the volume, there's no way you can afford to pay for the replacements for these old pumps," Colville said. "It's just not economically feasible."

The problem is worse in extremely rural areas, where "this might be the only pump in town that people can access," said Mike Rud, director of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association.

Demand for replacements has caused a months-long backlog for companies that make or rebuild the mechanical meters - and that's just for stations that can afford the upgrade.

For many station owners - who, because of relatively small profit margin on gas, aren't raking in money even though gas prices are marching higher - replacing the pumps altogether with electronic ones is just not an option.

"The new ones run between $10,000 and $15,000 apiece," Colville said. "It's an expense that's not worth it."

Mechanical meters can be retrofitted with higher numbers when pump prices climb another dollar. The last time that happened was in late 2005, when gas went over $3 a gallon, and owners of the older pumps installed kits that went to $3.999.

This time around, owners of the old pumps will need to install another kit that can handle prices up to $4.999, and possibly higher. Industry experts say those changes could cost as much as $650 per pump.

It costs less to change the meter to raise the maximum price from $2.99 to $3.99 a gallon, but that option raises the risk of a breakdown, said said Pete Turner, chief operating officer for APS Petroleum Equipment Inc. of Anniston, Ala.

"The computer that they're upgrading was not designed to go any more than what it's going now, and if you do it, they don't last long enough," Turner said. "They run so fast that the gears are wearing out."

The price of fixing the meters jumped in the past three years because old pumps are being phased out for new electronic pumps and demand for refurbished meters is down, Al Eichorn, vice president of PMP Corp., which makes the mechanical meters.

The Avon, Conn., company has hired extra employees who are working overtime but still has a 14-week backlog of orders, Eichorn said.

To deal with the problem, some state regulators are allowing half-pricing - displaying the price for a half-gallon of gas, then doubling the price shown on the meter.

In North Dakota, regulators recently told service stations their mechanical pumps could use half-pricing, provided they use signs to alert costumers and find a permanent solution by April 2009.

South Dakota is preparing similar rules, officials say. And in Minnesota, rural service station owners whose pumps cannot display the right price are being told to cover up the incorrect numbers.

"The consumer can only see the gallons turning," said Bill Walsh, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Commerce. "Then they just have to settle up with a calculator, basically." Colville and about a dozen other service station owners in Washington have received temporary variances from the state to allow them to half-price fuel.

Stations granted variances are required to post signs telling customers that the final price they will pay is twice what the pump meter indicates.

"No, that don't bother me. The price does," said Jim Puls, a third-generation rancher who pulled up to Colville's diesel pump to fill up his flatbed truck at $4.41 a gallon. "I can understand what they have to do."


Nationally, the average price for a gallon of gasoline rose past $3.70 Sunday, while diesel was selling for an average of $4.33 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Small stations are struggling to make a profit on gas, even as the price rises. Its small profit margin makes it less lucrative that snacks and other products the stores sell inside.

"If gas is the profit driver and you are one of those guys with the old pumps, you're either evolving or getting out," said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, a trade group that represents about 115,000 stores that sell gasoline.

"If you're just that kind of image of the '50s gas station where you have a conversation, fill up and have a cup of coffee, that's in the movies."

[Henry]

You're finally getting a taste of 1974, '75,'76 etc..

"Adjusted for inflation" was actually a parody but you didn't get the joke.

Till now.




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/14/AR2008051400927.html?hpid=topnews



Food Prices See Greatest Monthly Increase in Nearly 20 Years

A shopper leaves a Wal Mart Supercenter Thursday, May 8, 2008 in Gilbert, Ariz. Consumers gave some of the nation's retailers a little relief
By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 14, 2008; 10:54 AM
Rising global grain prices helped spark the largest increase in monthly food costs in nearly 20 years, as consumers paid more in April for cereals, baked goods, and the dairy, meat and other animal products that rely on feedstocks, the government reported today.



THIS STORY
Food Prices See Greatest Monthly Increase in Nearly 20 Years
Special Report: Global Food Crisis
Food prices have risen 6.1 percent in the past three months on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. The one-month rise between March and April of 0.9 percent was the biggest since January 1990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The rise in prices covered all categories of food but was most severe among such staple goods as grains and oils -- goods where inflation has touched off food riots in some less developed countries and led to concerns about supply shortages... etc.

[Henry]

Make hay while the sun shines...


Saudis Reject Bush's Call to Increase Oil Output


By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 16, 2008; 12:25 PM
RIYADH, May 16 -- Saudi Arabia Friday rejected the idea of increasing oil production to help ease soaring gasoline prices, telling President Bush that the kingdom already is meeting its customers' demand for crude.

The apparent rebuff came as Bush appealed to Saudi King Abdullah to use his country's vast oil reserves -- the world's largest -- to put more oil on the market and reduce the upward pressure on prices. It was the second time this year that Bush has made such a personal appeal to the Saudi monarch.

"What they're saying to us is . . . Saudi Arabia does not have customers that are making requests for oil that they are not able to satisfy," said Stephen J. Hadley, Bush's national security adviser. He told reporters that the Saudis indicated they are willing to put oil on the market in amounts sufficient to meet their customers' demands. etc.




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/16/AR2008051601111.html?hpid=topnews

[Henry]

I never knew they cared. Am deeply touched.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/16/AR2008051601111.html?hpid=topnews


Saudis to Increase Oil Output by Roughly 300,000 Barrels a Day

By Michael Abramowitz and William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 16, 2008; 3:41 PM
RIYADH, May 16 -- Saudi Arabia announced Friday that it will boost oil production by about 300,000 barrels a day to meet increased demand from customers next month. The announcement came after President Bush met with Saudi King Abdullah to appeal for help in bringing down oil prices that are hitting record highs.

The Saudi increase is a modest one and appeared unlikely to have much effect on crude oil prices. But with the president under pressure at home to show he is fighting to lower gas prices, the gesture gave Bush a face-saving benefit from a day-long meeting with Saudi leaders.

etc.

[Henry]

just how how stupid are some people...Oh, I forgot.

"The obvious impact of higher energy prices is that consumers have less disposable income and their confidence drops,"

adjusted for inflation/now adjust this/hmm/no adjustment necessary

now you don't have to adjust a damn thing






http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/16/AR2008051600979.html?hpid=moreheadlines



Market falls on record oil price

By Cal Mankowski
Reuters
Friday, May 16, 2008; 12:44 PM
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Friday after the price of oil hit a record and consumer sentiment data came in surprisingly weak, reviving concerns over spending.

The unease about the state of the consumer outweighed earlier optimism following a surprise rise in U.S. housing starts and stronger-than-expected earnings from retailers Nordstrom (JWN.N) and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF.N).

U.S. consumer confidence tumbled to its lowest in 28 years this month, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, as short-term inflation expectations hit their highest since the stagflation era of the early 1980s.

The price of oil shot to a record high near $128 a barrel after Goldman Sachs (GS.N), the most active investment bank in energy markets, sharply raised its price forecast for the second half of 2008.

"The obvious impact of higher energy prices is that consumers have less disposable income and their confidence drops," said Joe Battipaglia, market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus in Yardley, Pennsylvania. "Businesses have to pass along the costs and the result is an inflationary effect."

etc.

[Henry]

check the oil sir. oh, and the tires... please wash the windshield.
for this money they should give out drinking glasses (highball sized)
because we all could use a libation after filling up.

what do you mean this isn't a full service station?
i said fill'er up. dude.


10 million a day a mere drop in the bucket.


128x76000=9,728,000 ($128x76,000 barrels a day)




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/16/AR2008051602034.html?hpid=topnews




US will stop sending oil into strategic reserves

High gas prices posted at a Shell gas station in Redwood City, Calif., Wednesday, May 14, 2008, as a Toyota Prius hybrid drives by. Gas prices roared above $3.75 a gallon Wednesday, while oil prices fell as an Energy Department report gave a mixed picture of the nation's petroleum reserves. At the pump, the average national price of a gallon of regular gas rose 2.6 cents overnight to a record $3.758 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices are 67 cents higher than a year ago, and are expected to continue rising at least until the Memorial Day weekend. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) (Paul Sakuma - AP)


By H. JOSEF HEBERT
The Associated Press
Friday, May 16, 2008; 1:01 PM
WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department says it has canceled oil shipments into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning in July when the current purchase contract expires.

and

The Energy Department said it will not sign contracts for new shipments of 76,000 barrels of oil a day for the six-month period beginning July 1. President Bush had opposed halting the shipments, arguing that such a relatively small amount of oil would not influence prices. Current shipments will continue. The reserve is 97 percent full, holding 701 million barrels of crude.

[Henry]

Interesting site with information.



http://www.oil-price.net/

[Henry]

(this wasn't supposed to happen for another 2/3 months)





http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/



Oil tops $129 for first time, heads for $130
Latest surge comes after OPEC president says won’t raise output

Video


Four bucks and counting
May 19: For the first time some major U.S. cities are seeing gas selling for over $4 per gallon. WPTV's Jesse Chavez reports.
MSNBC


updated 2 minutes ago
VIENNA, Austria - Oil prices spiked to a new trading high Tuesday, sweeping toward $130 a barrel as supply concerns intensified the momentum buying that has lifted crude deeper into record territory. Gasoline, meanwhile, reached an average of $3.80 at the pump for the first time.

The June contract for light, sweet crude traded as high as $129.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling back to $129.43, up $2.38.



etc.


and later that day...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2006/06/01/LI2006060100693.html?hpid=moreheadlines



Stocks stumble after record oil, inflation worries

By JOE BEL BRUNO
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 20, 2008; 12:04 PM
NEW YORK -- Wall Street tumbled Tuesday after oil prices spiked to a new record above $129 a barrel and a government report raised investors' concerns about the impact of inflation on consumer spending. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 200 points.

Crude jumped after OPEC's president was quoted as saying his organization won't raise its output before its next meeting in September. That sent a barrel of light, sweet crude to a trading high of $129.58 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

etc.

[Henry]

adjust this for inflation, will you.

NYMEX CRUDE FUTURE 134.25 1.08 .81 18:53


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052101148.html?hpid=topnews


American to Charge $15 for First Checked Bag


In this Aug. 29, 2007 file photo, American Airlines aircrafts are shown operating at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Grapevine, Texas. American Airlines says, Wednesday, May 21, 2008, it will cut domestic capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter as it grapples with record-high fuel prices. (Tony Gutierrez - AP)

By DAVID KOENIG
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 21, 2008; 5:36 PM


FORT WORTH, Texas -- American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers _ probably in the thousands _ as the nation's largest carrier grapples with record-high fuel prices.

American plans to cut domestic flight capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter, after the peak summer season is over. The carrier was previously planning a 4.6 percent cut.

Shares of American parent AMR Corp. tumbled 24 percent, down $1.98 to $6.22, as oil prices shot past $130 per barrel for the first time, signaling even more trouble for the nation's airlines.

American said rising oil prices have increased its expected annual fuel costs by nearly $3 billion since the start of the year.

etc... etc... etc...

[tncean]

Blow up the tv
Throw away the paper
Go to the country
And build you a home
Grow a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches
And try to find Jesus on your own

From "Spanish Pipedream", by John Prine


t

[Henry]

For what it's worth...

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JE24Dj02.html


May 24, 2008



Page 1 of 2
Oil price mocks fuel realities
By F William Engdahl

As business and consumers consider the implications for them of crude oil selling at US$130-plus per barrel, they should bear in mind that, at a conservative calculation, at least 60% of that price comes from unregulated futures speculation by hedge funds, banks and financial groups using the London ICE Futures and New York Nymex futures exchanges and uncontrolled inter-bank or over-the-counter trading to avoid scrutiny (see Speculators knock OPEC off oil-price perch, Asia Times Online, May 6, 2008).

US margin rules of the government's Commodity Futures Trading Commission allow speculators to buy a crude oil futures contract on the Nymex by paying only 6% of the value of the contract. At the present price of around $130 per barrel, that means a futures trader only has to put up about $8 for every barrel. He borrows the other $120...

etc.


The article then moves into areas beyond commodity trades.
Probably worth the read.

[tncean]

60%? Wow.

t

[donaldan]

"60%? Wow. "

The article's author doesn't know what he is talking about. Simply a bunch of bull. That is what I say.

Commodity hedging has been going on for decades, so is trading on margin. That is nothing new. Every time when there is pricing fluctuation, blame is immediately placed on market trading/hedging. It is downright degrading to treat the readers as if he has discovered something profound and new. Shame on him.

Where are our policy makers when national energy policy is paramount? We all know that oil is a finite commodity and the world is consuming it in increasing rate. But has our policy makers formulate any plans to account for it? It is like we know for sure harricanes will hit us but we make no plans for it. When one actually hits and lives are disrrupted, those responsible planners and policy makers right away start pointing fingers and wash their hands.
_________________
Don

[Henry]

Here's an info site that I came by. Perhaps some of the data is informative and perhaps some of the commentary.
Perhaps.


http://www.wtrg.com/prices.htm

...including a section on oil price history and analysis.


Now...I remember 1973. Oil tankers circling just over the horizon; out of sight of NY Harbor. Gas lines. Price increases. I believe Ford was in charge. And as I recollect there was something called price controls that really didn't do a darn. Besides that Detroit really didn't much respond. Smart folks bought Toyotas and Datsons (aka Nissons). Can't recall anyone getting off of their arses.

Then Carter was in charge. Tax benefits for certain efficient building materials (I have a house like this and it's cheap to heat and retains heat well). Wear a sweator. I don't recall Detroit doing much except complaining about air bags. Can't recall Congress getting off of its arse.

Then Reagen was in charge. He ended preferential tax treatment for efficient anything. Congress didn't do much. Reagen did less. Detroit sat by and scratched its nuts for the most part.

Oh, in 1987, VP Bush went to Saudi Arabia and pleaded with the guys with the turbines to (and YOU can look this one up) raise as in RAISE the price of oil because it was too cheap and was not sufficiently profitable to extract from wells that weren't like those in the sandlot. Yeah, he really did do this.

Then Mr. B. became the Prexicent. I can't recall anything about that.
Sorry.

Then Clintoris became Presexident. He didn't do much to formulate an energy POLICY. Prices managed to stay down using manipulative whatevers. But SUV's became popular then.

In fact I recall the Wall Street Journal stating (in an article) that the SUV was a bad idea since they use so much gas and that one day when we are totally hooked again on the large car the cost of gas would go up and we would be skewered. A memorable news article.

Detroit kept on building SUV's. Very profitable.
Clinton did not as I recollect have an identifiable energy policy.
As I recollect all of his energies were focused upon the pussy von tuttie.

The past 7+ years...I don't know what's going on.
I only know that the price seems to be going up.


The past 35 years since 1973 for reasons you and I can speculate forever upon have been an energy policy wast of time regardless whether you are a Demolitioncrat or a fat Republicat.

enjoy your dinner

[donaldan]

We can look at the current high price of oil as a blessing. That is if we are finally being pushed into coming up with better energy management policies. Like many economic/social issues, unless the situation hurts our pocket books, we do nothing. We only react. We seldom plan ahead.

To me the current high global energy price is very real. There is serious unbalance of supply and demand. In fact, energy cost should go even higher. I am in China twice a year and there are regular long lines at diesel stations. Trucks may have to wait hours to get filled. Many communities go without electricity for long hours.

The more efficient American market economy with large private oil facilities have served the public well and kept our gas price among the cheapest in the industrial world. But that has a limit because over half of our oil use is imported and we have little control over its pricing. We have been lulled into complacency with low energy costs for years. It is time to wake up. It is not that we don't have the capability/technology. We simply don't mobilize ourselves until it is late.

"It is better late than never."
_________________
Don