My guess is drivers of cars needing premium are less price sensitive in their consumption behavior?
@3scoutsmom, I read that the low oil prices are hurting ISIS, because they sell oil themselves!
I’ve read that they are just stealing the oil and selling it at below market value (it was free to them since it’s stolen) to under cut legitimate oil sales including US domestic sales, not sure if there is any fact in this or not.
Well, Daesh has to offer smuggled oil at lower prices to get people to buy from such a dodgy source.
In terms of trying to drive the US frackers out of business, you can look at the KSA’s current policy of driving the market price down. Note that this also harms the KSA’s other enemies and competitors (e.g. Iran, Russia), although it is not good for its own government budget.
Of course, the ultraconservative religious fanaticism promoted with KSA oil money provides some of the ideological underpinnings of Daesh, Al-Qaida, and similar national security threats. So it is in the US’ national security interests for everyone to try to minimize oil use. Gasoline for motor vehicles is a big part of US oil use, so, the next time one purchases a car, it would be desirable to choose a highly fuel efficient one, or (if practical) one powered by non-oil fuel.
Wouldn’t it be great to have some sort of verification system for where oil comes from? Like food labels for country of origin.
I heard that Citgo used to get all of their petrol from Venezuela. It’s probably not so simple anymore.
Just filled today…$2.04 per gallon.
Not that I really want to support Venezuela either but I’d love to know where the the petrol I’m buying comes from. I would pay more to not support certain governments/movements.
Wife just filled up today for $1.91. It only dropped below $2 very recently. We also buy $50 gas cards at the grocery store for $40, so that 20% discount makes $2.00 per gallon cost us only $1.60 !! (Common core math)
This is the most recent article I could find about where US petrol comes from. Canada is our biggest supplier, but we’re down to just 26% of our petrol being imported.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2015/04/21/where-your-gasoline-comes-from/
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_m.htm indicates that the US imports about 30 million barrels of oil per month from the KSA, which is the second largest country of origin. At current oil prices, that is about $1.2 billion worth per month.
Imports from Canada are about four times as much.
Here is a listing of the lowest prices in each state.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/research/the-cheapest-gas-prices-in-every-state/ss-BBn4oHt#image=52