[ROCKMAN]

A small tidbit about gasoline prices: PEMEX is opening gasoline stations in the US. And the one that just opened in Houston: $1.54/gallon. Just looking for another profit center: PEMEX spends about 25% of the revenue it gets from its oil exports to pay for its refined product imports. I assume what PEMEX is doing is swapping oil in kind for gasoline from Gulf Coast refineries. Given the potential for a significant increase in US gasoline consumption it sounds like a good move at the right time. Also consider how many Mexican expats in the US that might like to support the PEMEX effort.

It's very unlikely PEMEX is exporting refinery products to the US.

[Synapsid]

Here in the central Puget Lowland there are a few Spirit gas stations. Today I checked the price for regular and found it $1.34 a gallon higher than at the 7 Eleven down the street ($2.55/gal), yet people buy gas there.

Not long ago while passing the station I saw on the pumps "Our gas is all gasoline. No ethanol."

I feel (obscurely) pleased.

[Tanada]

Here in the central Puget Lowland there are a few Spirit gas stations. Today I checked the price for regular and found it $1.34 a gallon higher than at the 7 Eleven down the street ($2.55/gal), yet people buy gas there.

Not long ago while passing the station I saw on the pumps "Our gas is all gasoline. No ethanol."

I feel (obscurely) pleased.

In no logical world does the energy difference between E-10 and E-00 make up for that kind of a price differential.

[Synapsid]

Tanada,

Agreed.

[KaiserJeep]

Here in the Golden State, it actually costs you money to be "greener" by buying and burning E85. Not so in the cornbelt of the MidWest - E85 is about 1/3rd less than the E10 or E00, and all three fuels are commonly available, with E10 and E00 in Regular and Premium grades. Less common but still available is LPG (with road tax applied), #1 Diesel conventional and (this last is rare) Biodiesel. This was my impression from driving around Wisconsin and Minnesota on vacation and house hunting. In the Milwaukee area I saw CNG available - but only for large fleet and municipal vehicles.

If you can buy the E85 (the natives call it "corn fuel") for 1/3rd less, and it gets 75% of the mileage of E00, there is a modest financial advantage accompanied by a modest inconvenience which is more frequent fuel stops.

[Keith_McClary]

Dubai (Platts)--29 Dec 2015 530 am EST/1030 GMT

Saudi Arabia has hiked the price of gasoline, domestic gas for power generation as well as ethane feedstock in its 2016 budget as part of a broader program to cut subsidies and reduce its budget deficit.

Gas prices have been increased to $1.25/MMBtu from $0.75/MMBtu, and ethane, the main feedstock for petrochemicals, to $1.57/MMBtu, up more than 100% from the long-standing fixed price of $0.75/MMBtu, the official Saudi Press Agency said late Monday.

The new prices take effect from Tuesday, SPA said.

The price of 95 RON gasoline was raised by 50% to Riyal 0.9 ($0.24)/liter, while that of 91 RON gasoline was raised by 66.67% to Riyal 0.75/liter.

The sharp increase was a surprise as the finance ministry said Monday that it would implement a "gradual" five-year program aimed at structural economic reform, including fuel price hikes, to improve energy efficiency.

State-owned Saudi Aramco has a total refining capacity of 2.91 million b/d across wholly owned and joint venture refineries in the country. It produced 115.57 million barrels of gasoline in 2014.

Most of this was, however, shipped overseas by their JV partners, leaving the country a net importer, with an average of 744,784 mt of gasoline imported each month this year, according to Joint Oil Data Initiative data.

Domestic fuels have been heavily subsidized, but Riyadh has been under pressure to bring its spending under control as its budget deficit in 2015 ballooned to Riyal 367 billion due to lower revenue from crude exports.

The country announced Monday a Riyal 513 billion budget for 2016, down from $229 billion in 2015.

The new budget, King Salman al-Saud's first since taking the throne in January, includes a spending of nearly $224 billion.

No details on the country's oil price assumption or crude export levels were disclosed.
http://www.platts.com/latest-news/natur ... n-26323825

[Outcast_Searcher]

Who are the potential enemies of Denmark that the Danes need to fear?

Hard to say. Who predicted Hitler would try world conquest before he did? Who knows what games someone like Putin will play?

I would strongly prefer that the US use its military more for defense, or hire out its services for things like protecting the Strait of Hormuz, instead of just having the US taxpayer pay the whole bill. On the other hand, just pretending like there are no threats in the world and no military power isn't needed isn't particularly realistic either, given the number of wars ongoing at ANY given time.

[Keith_McClary]

I would strongly prefer that the US use its military more for defense, or hire out its services for things like protecting the Strait of Hormuz, instead of just having the US taxpayer pay the whole bill.

Then your military would become mercenaries on the Saudi payroll. What could go wrong?

[Tanada]

Reasons why $2/gallon is not causing a massive economic boom for the USA, much more at link below quote.

The Dallas Fed, whose area includes the oil patches of Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico, estimates that a 50 percent fall in oil prices now adds around 0.5 percentage points to economic growth over a year, half of the impact seen before America's oil boom.

One reason is that the oil sector has grown over the past decade, so spending and job cuts there weigh more on the whole economy. Cheaper oil also helps less because cars and machinery have become more fuel efficient, according to the Dallas Fed.

Thanks to hydraulic fracturing and shale drilling boom that made the United States the world's top oil producer in 2014, the nation also imports less oil than ever.

That goes to explain why in the public eye the modest benefits of cheap energy enjoyed by all get overshadowed by the havoc the oil slump wreaked in the energy sector and the nation's oil patches.

Tumbling prices forced producers and oilfield services companies to slash budgets, driving some into bankruptcy and many deep into the red. Markets have grown so bearish about the sector that when oil producer Hess (HES.N) reported a fourth quarter loss of over $1.8 billion, its shares have risen because investors had braced for even more damage.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-e ... SKCN0VA27U

[marmico]

Households think that $2 gasoline is temporary. Counterintuitively, after tax savings has increased since the June 2014 gasoline price top.

https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=3lO6

The leading tailwind decline in upstream oil/gas capex of $70 billion over the last 4 quarters has been offset with a lagging headwind increase in household consumption. Give it another two quarters for spending to kick off.

https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=3lOo

[ennui2]

cars and machinery have become more fuel efficient

Hmm... Could this be part of Monte's much-vaunted "demand destruction"?

[Tanada]

Well Prices in the Toledo, Ohio area are back up to $2.759/gal how are things in your neck of the woods?

[Cog]

Well Prices in the Toledo, Ohio area are back up to $2.759/gal how are things in your neck of the woods?

$2.49/gal and pretty stable.

[Outcast_Searcher]

Well Prices in the Toledo, Ohio area are back up to $2.759/gal how are things in your neck of the woods?

$2.49/gal and pretty stable.

Same here in central KY (mostly near $2.49).

OTOH, oil prices have actually been relatively stable the past couple months,relatively speaking.

And if you look for the past year, since Sept., the upper range for prices has been around $50.

And if you look at, say, a 3 year chart, you have the "before" prices of around $100, and then the "recent" prices of roughly $50, broadly speaking.

So now the question is if prices can break meaningfully above the $50 range and manage to stay there for a significant length of time.

If not, then gasoline roughly in the current price range should be available. And people in the first world will very likely keep buying many very low mpg cars and trucks and driving the demand up (in addition to 3rd world demand, of course).

sarcasm:

Of course, with most of the MSM assuring us that oil fracking has solved the long term oil supply problems (until electric cars replace the whole fleet, any time now), what could possibly go wrong? And those articles talking about climate change -- well, the "facts" on that are just distractions from evil, ignorant, pointy headed, left wing conspiracy driven scientists, so those can be safely ignored.

And if in doubt, just vote for HRC as she will surely save us.

:end sarcasm

We collectively SO deserve the coming world of pain the planet is going to inflict on us.

[PeakOiler]

The last time I put gas in my Honda Insight was May 29th, and gas was $1.99/gal.

YTD I've consumed 268.883 gallons and spent $191.60.

I love being retired and not commuting ~92 miles/day five days a week in greater Austin traffic!

I want to check the "worst US cities for traffic". Austin was in the top ten the last time I checked.

[KaiserJeep]

Average price in San Jose is $2.92 for regular grade, paying cash. A year ago it was $3.47, we are catching a break this year.

[AdamB]

Well Prices in the Toledo, Ohio area are back up to $2.759/gal how are things in your neck of the woods?

paid $2.05/gal for regular this morning. I already miss the days of $1.75/gal. Maybe come this fall, if inventories stay inflated from the glut.

[Subjectivist]

Today in Toledo gas prices jumped from 2.19/gal to 2.45/gal in about two hours flat.

This going on anywhere else or am I special?

[ROCKMAN]

Sub - You'll always remain special to the Rockman. LOL. And speaking of motor fuel profits being gouged out of you consumers:

Reuters - U.S. refiners such as PBF Energy and Valero Energy are heading into the winter season on their best footing in years, as months of surprisingly robust distillate demand has eaten away at stubbornly high inventories and boosted margins. Inventories of diesel, heating oil and jet fuel are approaching their lowest seasonal levels in three years, fueling expectations among refining executives, traders and analysts that strong margins will help the bottom line for refiners through year-end.

Distillate days of supply, which takes into account the pull of exports, last week hit a two-year low at 34 days, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and sits below the historical average. Diesel refining margins surged to their highest in nearly two years on Thursday at $20.34 a barrel. Overall refining margins are now nearly 40 percent higher than last year at about $19.50 a barrel

More at:

http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/1 ... gh_YearEnd