April 12
...serving up your daily dish.
With gas prices up a dime in the last week, it's time for all the citizen journalists to pitch in and let everyone know where the cheap gas is. The Baristas will give you a jump start. (Hint: the cheap gas ain't at Valero, at Watchung and Park Street, where regular was $2.71 yesterday.) The Mobil at Bellevue and Broad (across from ShopRite) was selling regular at $2.59, as was the Exxon on Belleville Ave and Davey Street in Bloomfield (near the Bloomfield A&P). But the Exxon at Broad and Watchung in Bloomfield had it for $2.53.
As for the possibility of seeing lower gas prices again, you better ask your actuary.
The good news is experts say the price will go down, just not anytime soon.
"In our lifetime we will see gasoline prices go back down," says Ben Brockwell, a nationally recognized petroleum expert. "Right now we're in an upward spiral that's going to take us to $3 this summer. That number is already built into this market, unfortunately."
Brockwell is the Director of Data for the Oil Price Information Service in New Jersey, an independent oil analyst company. He was in Madison for the Petroleum Marketers Convention.
Go to www.newjerseygasprices.com, that will tell you where the cheapest gas in any town is located.
Posted by: Eric Gross | Apr 12, 2006 8:50:42 AM
Being married to actuary, I can tell you he cannot predict gas prices. He (or she) can tell you the likelyhood of dying while paying for gas - or - the likelyhood of being stuck by lightening while pimping your own gas outsife the state of New Jersey.
Posted by: caris | Apr 12, 2006 9:00:38 AM
Delta on Bloomfield Ave in Bloomfield is almost always the cheapest I can find in the area.
And those gas price websites seem like a great idea but four of the five listed for Bloomfield are on the GSP and there's only one listed for MTC.
Posted by: State Street Pete | Apr 12, 2006 9:01:21 AM
The other day, the Gulf station on Rt 46 Eastbound was $ 2.49. Normally the Gulf on Valley in Clifton is the cheapest. They were $ 2.55
Go figure
Posted by: JT | Apr 12, 2006 9:08:03 AM
Gas prices prob won't come down much in the next few months.
1) Nigerian insurgents have shut off several of Shell Oil's terminals. Nigeria is a big crude exporter to the US.
2) Venezuela owns Citgo, which owns 50% of a large houston refinery it's trying to sell. Venezuela has conscioulsy diverted some of the crude it sells the US to China and Japan, so the refinery has run dry several times.
3) Uncertainty in Iran is adding $7 to $10 a barrel to oil prices
4) US regs will require another change over as MTBE is finally phased out this year. Refineries aren't ready for that.
Posted by: Rail Paul | Apr 12, 2006 9:08:24 AM
I was wondering when this was going to resurface as a story. Forget the dime in the last week, hasn't it been like a fiddy cent increase since January, yo?
I tell ya, it makes me want to rap & curse.
Posted by: crank | Apr 12, 2006 9:09:26 AM
"Pimping your own gas," LOL. There was already a subtext while I was typing.
Posted by: crank | Apr 12, 2006 9:11:09 AM
The WSJ has an article about the gas spot shortages this summer. The auto companies blame the oil companies, and vice versa.
There's no question that US motor fuel efficiency is lower than it was 20 years ago when SUVs and pickups are included (they're not counted as passenger cars).
It's equally true that Euro style high efficiency car diesel engines haven't gotten very far in the US, and the states won't approve clean diesel fuels widely used in Europe.
Lots of blame to go around
Posted by: Rail Paul | Apr 12, 2006 9:12:14 AM
Warning, topic drift --
Why does the ww4u.com weather report change radically depending upon which thread or screen I'm viewing?
WHen one is looking at threads, is it stuck at the conditions at the time the thread was first put up?
Is the only valid, real-time, report, to be found when you're looking at the main B-net page?
Posted by: crank | Apr 12, 2006 9:19:22 AM
1.) Filled the tank at Eastern Oil last night -- cash price per gallon for reg. was 2.49.
2.) Off topic, for Miss Martta:
I never thought Johnny Damon was that attractive til just now! I was reading today's METRO, the free paper they give away at Penn Station, and came upon a full-page ad for Puma featuring Mr. Damon --- and my heart stopped! Run, don't walk, to find a copy -- he is looking *fine*!
Posted by: skipwith | Apr 12, 2006 9:31:01 AM
It is still a mystery as to why gas prices continue to rise setting new records almost daily.
And while gas prices rise - having an adverse effect on the economy - what if anything the Bush administration is doing about it?
Posted by: Franklin | Apr 12, 2006 9:44:57 AM
"I never thought Johnny Damon was that attractive til just now! I was reading today's METRO, the free paper they give away at Penn Station, and came upon a full-page ad for Puma featuring Mr. Damon --- and my heart stopped! Run, don't walk, to find a copy -- he is looking *fine*!"
See? Didn't I tell you? His looks are intoxicating. And I have to tell you that I am not the type to swoon over celebs (being in NYC and type of work I do, I come across lots of celebs and they're just regular peeps to me).
There's just something about Damon.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 12, 2006 9:48:33 AM
Franklin,
No mystery, read Rail Paul's four very valid reasons above.
Posted by: The Bird | Apr 12, 2006 10:01:11 AM
Miss Martta: i recently learned (from a New York Magazine article on him) that Johnny Damon is half Thai. i always thought he was unique looking, but i could put my finger on just how.
Posted by: efs | Apr 12, 2006 10:03:41 AM
Damon was given a 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider as a contract bonus with Puma. I don't think he has any trouble with gas prices or insurance costs.
Posted by: Jim | Apr 12, 2006 10:04:42 AM
There is a gas station on Bloomfield Ave in Caldwell (a "no name" type brand) near the Dunkin' Donuts on the eastbound side that usually sells well below the brand name prices.
Posted by: justeL | Apr 12, 2006 10:08:25 AM
Man, I remember the last time gas prices dipped less than a dollar and a friend of mine said, "Take a picture of that -- you'll never see gas under a dollar again."
Haven't yet.
And on some level, it's probably best if we don't.
Posted by: Captain Vegetable | Apr 12, 2006 10:18:48 AM
Well one things for sure, cather, crank and a few others on here are not regular, that's for sure.
Seems by some of their rude and ignorant comments about anything and everything that they are far from regular.
All backed up is more like it.
In fact, it sounds like they need an enema!
Posted by: John II | Apr 12, 2006 10:23:26 AM
"There's no question that US motor fuel efficiency is lower than it was 20 years ago when SUVs and pickups are included (they're not counted as passenger cars)."
That statement is misleading. Advances in engine technology continue to improve fuel consumption efficiency, but what you are hinting at is the popularity of large full-size SUVs, primarily in America (and now Germany, by one car magazine report).
However, as just one example, Mercedes and BMW have been able to offer high performance engines with high fuel efficiency compared with others in its class. In the very near future, hybrid technology will be available in most model lines, as well as other varieties such as hydrogen and fuel cells. While SUVs and trucks in America probably won't ever go away, I think it is very important to see the technological changes taking place to increase fuel efficiency in those vehicles, even right now with 2006 models.
ROC: work with me on this one, what are the "facts"?
Posted by: Jim | Apr 12, 2006 10:27:55 AM
