Archive for the ‘Gasoline’ Category

With the record-breaking spikes in gas prices last summer, followed by the economic downturn, it's not surprising that people aren't driving as much.

A new report from the Seattle-based Sightline Institute verifies that per capita gasoline use is falling nationally, but focuses on how and why that the downward trend is most remarkable in Northwest states (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho). In the Northwest, the amount of gasoline used per person in 2008 was at its lowest level since 1965, with the biggest drop in total gasoline consumption since 1980.

Some of undoubtedly is due to increased unemployment and the loss of commuter miles traveled,...

In case you've been trapped in a cubicle for the past few months, it's summer again, and that means gas prices are making their march back up toward their peak. While fears of $4 per gallon gas aren't prominent - yet - Hyundai is pre-empting the rise with a promise of $1.49 gas for a full year, or 12,000 miles, for buyers that take home a new Hyundai before August 31.

The savings from the program, called Gas Lock, could be substantial, at least from a percentage perspective - average fuel prices are about $2.70 right now, and many of the larger markets in the country are well over $3 already. Deliver gas at around half price is an attractive...

Gas prices have crept up over the past few months, and while experts don't expect things to reach last summer's $4+ per gallon unpleasantness, prices will likely go well beyond their current $2.40-ish average. That's partially because of summer, when prices surge thanks to higher demand and more expensive fuel blends. However, in this case, it's also because OPEC isn't planning to boost production until oil hits $100 per barrel.

Right now, oil is hovering around $70 a barrel--in fact, yesterday marked the first time that the price crossed the $71 threshold in almost a year. Curiously, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed al-Abdullah al-Sabah...