At 5$ a gallon for gas, will you modify your driving habits?

by JH 55 Replies latest jw friends

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  JH

  http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gas17.html

  5 bucks a gallon for gas? Expert sees it in 2006

  August 17, 2005

  BY MARK J. KONKOL Transportation Reporter

  If you think all this flirting with $3-a-gallon gas is already a pain in the pocketbook, brace yourself.

  Oil expert Craig Smith predicts gas prices will skyrocket next year, jumping to five bucks a gallon.

  And if terrorists successfully strike a major Middle East oil field, Americans might end up paying $10 a gallon -- about $110 to fill a Ford Focus' 11-gallon tank.

  Smith, a self-proclaimed geopolitical know-it-all hawking his new book Black Gold Stranglehold, says Americans -- tree-hugging politicians and car-addicted commuters alike -- should blame themselves for the coming spike in prices.

  "Why are they charging higher prices for gas? Because people will pay it. Apparently, we're not changing our driving habits much," he said. "Blame this on ourselves. This country has not built a new refinery in 30 years, we stopped new oil exploration . . . and put a moratorium on offshore drilling."

  Smith -- who last year predicted $3-a-gallon gas and $65-a-barrel crude oil prices this year -- says oil prices will jump to $80 a gallon by the end of 2006.

  On Tuesday, the national average was $2.52 a gallon, according to AAA. And the price of gas topped $3 here last week.

  If you don't believe the average cost of gas will double in 12 months, Smith points to places such as Hong Kong, Korea and France, where gas prices regularly top the $5 mark.

  The solution here for high oil prices: "find it, drill it, refine it and burn it" domestically, Smith said, pointing to untapped crude reserves in Alaska, Colorado, Utah, off the California coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.
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  DannyBloem

  
  isn't that what I pay now? or about...

  it did influence me, because I bought a small car, that did not use to much fuel per mile.
  
  This is however not the only reasons. I love the SUV's, but it is a bit unethical to drive in one, for the other traffic.

  Danny
• 

  kwintestal

  JH, we just hit $1.13 per litre here, isn't that about $4.50 a gallon? I wish our driving habits would change, but they haven't yet.

  Kwin
• 

  JH

  But these prices are for the US. So if the price in the US goes from 3 to 5 bucks a gallon, then in Canada it will go up at the same rate as well. So, instead of paying $1.13 a litre, we might pay $1.75 a litre, and the same increase for Europe I guess.
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  JH

  I wish our driving habits would change, but they haven't yet.

  
  

  
  On TV yesterday a reporter said that Quebecers won't modify their driving habits unless gas reached $3 a litre. I was very surprised about this. Imagine $3 a litre is about 12$ a gallon. Which would mean that filling the gas of a Corolla gas tank would only cost 130$ or so....

  Gee, I modified my driving habits when gas reached 80 cents a litre.
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  luna2

  I've been thinking about this a lot. I live close enough to work to bike it...not that that would be wonderful in the summer, but you do what you have to do. I looked at buying a hybrid car too...but I'm sure as the gas prices go up, so with the price of such a vehicle. I usually buy Hondas or other small cars that get good gas mileage, but if gas goes to $5, I'll have to do some major rethinking of my driving habits. I've already cut down on pleasure trips..this year I've not gone out of state once.

  I've heard rumors that car companies have had the technology to produce cars that get 60+ mpg (and probably better than that now) for years . Wonder if they'll start rolling them out now.
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  mrsjones5

  I just started a motor paper route. At first it seem like a good idea but silly me forgot to factor in the cost of gas. My route is about 45 miles long, alot of stop and go and running of the engine. I have found that I have to fully gas up every other day. It costs about $40 for a full tank of gas and that's only about 16 gallons. The rate I'm being paid to deliver these papers is about $30 a day, after certain things are taken out, it comes close to $25 a day. So by doing the math if I'm shelling out $40 every other day for gas and only getting $25 per day for the route, by the end of the month I'm really only taking home about $150 and I havent even taken the taxes out for that yet, which will be on the $30 a day rate not the $150 I'm really taking home. 32 cents a mile my ass!

  *Sigh* I'm gonna have to give this route up

  Hosie
• 

  stopthepain

  Good,all these tough guy americans who think there dick is measured by the size of there pick-up truck can go lose thier whole paycheck on gas.STP
• 

  JH

  My route is about 45 miles long, alot of stop and go and running of the engine.

  In your calculation, you can also figure all that mileage you make, which means faster car depreciation, when you'll trade it in one day.
• 

  mrsjones5

  Yep JH youre right and I thought about that too.

  The wear and tear on my van (it's it the only mode of transportation we had) just isnt worth the small payback. Right now my van needs a tune up, it's running sluggish, and I was not able to finnish my route yesterday. And omg the tune up is gonna cost close to $300!