I know gas prices usually rise as we get closer to Memorial Day... but

[NewJeffCT]

it seems to be rising a bit faster this year than I remember in the past and it's predicted that gas prices this summer will be the highest in several years.

I know Iran is playing some role in this, but I'm also suspicious that Trump is rattling sabers with Iran this year to drive up gas prices for his buddies in Saudi Arabia. This allows the Saudis to get a lot of money this year. Next year, Trump will make noise about asking the Saudis to lower gas prices, and they'll open the spigots to send gas prices tumbling next summer and fall in time for the election.

And, the Saudis funnel some of their profits from this year and early next year into the Trump 2020 campaign.

Am I paranoid or way off base, or do you think I may be on the right track?

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Agreed. I'm in northern NJ.

Saturday a.m., price was $2.67

Saturday afternoon: $2.69

Last night (Monday): $2.79

Really? 12 cents in 48 hours?

[Bengus81]

6. Live where your city is RUN by QuikTrip,12 cents is their normal price increase.......

Gas is up here in Wichita and surrounding area 85 cents per gallon since Jan and I haven't looked this morning. Usual Republican President shitck. I look for $4.00 here by Sept.

[safeinOhio]

12. You must not have a lot of Speedway/Marathon stations.

Google "Speedway effect". Ours, here in the mid-west always jumps 30 to 40 cents and then drops a few cents a day after that.

In my town every station jumps to the same price with in an hour. As trump would say "no collision".

[kacekwl]

23. Same here

Northern Illinois.

[hlthe2b]

2. Not to mention whatever shit-stirring is ongoing in Venezuela...

But, ultimately, I think Trump is and will be hurt by the higher prices and will actually be arm-twisting the Saudis to open the spigots.

[bullwinkle428]

3. I know this is a really shitty commentary about us as a nation, but I think

that $4+ per gallon gas prices are going to drive this asshole out of office faster than anything we may ever uncover about his relations with Russia.

[NewJeffCT]

4. Most Americans have short-term memories, though

If gas prices are $4/gallon this year, it will definitely hurt Trump in the polls. However, if the plunge back down to $2/gallon by summer 2020, people will quickly forget the previous year's high prices.

[Bengus81]

7. Worked for Bush and throw in a Terra threat just before the elections......

[NewJeffCT]

9. Back in 2006

Democrats re-took the House and picked up 30 seats in total in small part because of anger at high gas prices post Katrina.

In the Fall of 2018, gas prices were at 4 year highs and Democrats picked up 40 seats

Sure there were other reasons, but high gas prices maybe added a bit to it.

[Ohiogal]

5. But

will $4+ per gallon motivate people here to get rid of their big gas guzzlers and drive smaller more fuel efficient or electric cars?

I don't think so.

[Bengus81]

8. Hell older cars are the gas guzzlers. Who has $30-40 grand for a new one?

That Hummer BS is long gone around here. That craze went out with 4.00 gas. Hell a new Corvette will get nearly 30 mpg with normal driving.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. LOTS of cars are significantly less than $30-40 grand.

Honest.

I cannot begin to imagine paying anything close to that amount for a car. I drove a 2004 Honda Civic from 2006 until last September. It typically got close to 35mpg, more on a long trip. In September I replaced it with a 2017 Honda Fit that routinely gets 37-40 mpg, more on a long trip. And neither of them cost as much as half of what you think you need to pay for a car.

I certainly see an awful lot of huge SUVs and pick up trucks on the road, most of which look fairly new, and I bet they don't get the gas mileage my Hondas do.

[Ohiogal]

19. Right now

I'm driving an '06 Toyota Corolla that gets in the upper 30s in mpg. Bought it used when it was one year old. It runs fine and I plan to keep it until it falls apart. I have no interest in wasting money on a brand new vehicle to the tune of 30 or 40 grand when what I have is still perfectly good.

I also see an awful lot of big trucks and SUVs on the road that look new, and my son says if they get 20 mpg that's considered good.

So tell me now which older cars are gas guzzlers! (that was meant to answer Bengus 81, not you, Poindexter)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

20. Yes.

The reason so many new cars are so expensive is that people have been bamboozled into thinking that a six year car loan is just dandy.

I keep on knowing people who bought, or whose kid bought, a car with a six year loan, totalled the car inside of six months, and are truly shocked to learn that the pay-off is less than is owed on the loan. Surprise, surprise.

A friend of mine has recently gone through something similar, in that a friend of his wanted to buy a car, did have a semi-decent down payment, but got his heart set on something that was more than he could qualify for. So my friend was the one who took out the loan. You can almost guess what happened next. I'll spare you all the details, but the other guy absconded, although at least the car got left behind, and my friend was shocked to learn the loan was underwater. He'd never bothered to do the homework about the value of the car in question, never read the loan documents which (I'm pretty sure) would have spelled out exactly the total payment for the loan over whatever period of time it was for.

It's been a financial mess for my friend.

Me, I always pay cash for a car. Other than my very first one, which was a '59 VW bug I purchased in 1967. $100. I didn't have that much in cash at the time, so I financed it through my work credit union. Ever since then I've paid cash.

[NewJeffCT]

10. people were moving towards more energy efficient cars under Obama

and also higher fuel standards for all new cars, but that's been sidelined under Trump... didn't Team Trump rescind higher fuel requirements? And, removed incentives to buy hybrid/electric/fuel efficient cars.

[oasis]

11. Gas prices have leaped up without warning or explanation.

[onenote]

15. Not really. Gas prices commonly increase sharply around this time of year

The increase started while crude prices were relatively flat. Now crude prices are increasing, so the price at the pump will continue to increase.

You can use this chart to track price at the pump for a wide range of years. If you check if for the past 8 years, you'll see that prices are well below what they were at the beginning of that period and while prices were lower in 2015 and 2016, they're pretty close to what they were a year ago. And you'll see the upward tick in prices that seems to occur almost every year as we move into the spring.
https://www.gasbuddy.com/Charts

[oasis]

18. Thanks, onenote. I complained to my wife yesterday about a

30-35 cent-per-gallon jump in our local gas in the past week.

I don't watch the local news as much as I have in the past. I've lived in different states over the past 25 years where the local news would usually give viewers a tipoff on any upcoming major changes in gas prices.

Thanks again for the chart

[maveric]

13. Gas in San Diego went up $1.00 a gallon during the past month.

We were getting it for 2.94 a gal not too long ago. It’s four bucks now.

[safeinOhio]

14. Capitalism has nothing to do with supply and demand.

It's all about what the market will bear.

[NewJeffCT]

22. Prices will jump

if there is any tension in the Middle East and/or if OPEC decides to cut production. The market can be manipulated by a select few.

[onenote]

16. I don't think you're on the right track

See post #15.

Also, keep in mind that the US is now the largest producer of crude oil in the world, with Russia second, Saudi Arabia third, and Iran fourth.

[Amishman]

21. Refineries are doing maintenance early this year due to marine fuel changes at year end

Global fuel standards are changing for marine fuel, dramatically lowering the maximum sulfur levels. Refineries are doing maintenance early in anticipation of supply disruptions from that standard change. They want to have maximum refining capacity available this fall and winter.