Oil price over $147 for the first time-now above $80

[JonathanBelles]

3.53 today. Probably the lowest ill see it for a while.

[vbhoutex]

I'm paying 3.34 now.

[gtalum]

Oil is up nearly $3 on the day, presumably due to Gustav related issues.

Now at about $119.

It will drop below $110 next week after Gustav and the Labor Day weekend are over. In my opinion.

[Cryomaniac]

It will drop below $110 next week after Gustav and the Labor Day weekend are over. In my opinion.

It should, yes.

Currently $119.67, up $1.52 on the day.

[vbhoutex]

It will drop below $110 next week after Gustav and the Labor Day weekend are over. In my opinion.

It should, yes.

Currently $119.67, up $1.52 on the day.

Some of that will depend on what Gustav does to the infrastructure in the GOM and to refineries along the GOM.

[Stephanie]

It's gone up 9 cents in the past 2 days. Probably a combination of the holiday weekend and Gustav.

It's still a heck of a lot better than July...

[Cyclenall]

I can't believe oil prices are DOWN $4.45 already today!! There was a major hurricane in the Gulf and the prices drop like that. It's at $111 right now .

[Stephanie]

I can't believe oil prices are DOWN $4.45 already today!! There was a major hurricane in the Gulf and the prices drop like that. It's at $111 right now .

I saw that - they were betting that the oil rigs would be put out of business for a while due to Gustav.

[senorpepr]

How about this... oil has ALREADY dropped nearly $8!

At transmit time, the going rate for a barrel was $107.73

[somethingfunny]

Sweet. I had a feeling Gustav wouldn't be as bad as feared (how many times does Katrina happen?) and I told my mom to wait on buying gas after prices jumped a dime here. Unfortunately I can't do the same -- my tank is empty and my favorite gas station won't get its new cheap shipment in until Thursday.

Sometimes I wonder why we get so agitated about price differences of a nickel or a dime per gallon. Even for a 16-gallon fillup the difference is maybe $1.

[Stephanie]

Sweet. I had a feeling Gustav wouldn't be as bad as feared (how many times does Katrina happen?) and I told my mom to wait on buying gas after prices jumped a dime here. Unfortunately I can't do the same -- my tank is empty and my favorite gas station won't get its new cheap shipment in until Thursday.

Sometimes I wonder why we get so agitated about price differences of a nickel or a dime per gallon. Even for a 16-gallon fillup the difference is maybe $1.

It depends upon how much you drive, how far, how much the additional $1's eat into your budget, the cost of food, etc. It's a heck of a lot better than a month ago when it was at least 60 cents higher per gallon. It starts to add up. The worst part is not knowing when it's going to level out.

[george_r_1961]

Looks like our bubble is reinflating. And quickly

[DanKellFla]

Sweet. I had a feeling Gustav wouldn't be as bad as feared (how many times does Katrina happen?) and I told my mom to wait on buying gas after prices jumped a dime here. Unfortunately I can't do the same -- my tank is empty and my favorite gas station won't get its new cheap shipment in until Thursday.

Sometimes I wonder why we get so agitated about price differences of a nickel or a dime per gallon. Even for a 16-gallon fillup the difference is maybe $1.

It depends upon how much you drive, how far, how much the additional $1's eat into your budget, the cost of food, etc. It's a heck of a lot better than a month ago when it was at least 60 cents higher per gallon. It starts to add up. The worst part is not knowing when it's going to level out.

Exactly. The extra few dollars a fill up is managable. But, those few extra dollars add up to a lot of money for transportation costs of anything we buy in a store. It has a big ripple effect.

I have gas in my garage to run my generator. Usually, I put it in my car after the summer and put the gas cans away. But, I think I may keep 10 or 15 gallons of gas in my garage at all time just in case.

[gtalum]

On the bright side, the high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel is already starting to result in increased use of fuel-efficient transportation. Rail freight is on the serious rebound this year. I forget the exact numbers, but on average a freight train can carry a ton of freight many multiples more miles on a gallon of fuel than a truck can.

[Cyclenall]

When it was all said and done, oil prices actually fell $0.57 today .

[senorpepr]

When it was all said and done, oil prices actually fell $0.57 today .

No, October contracts closed today at 120-something. The $108 is a new day of trading and is for November contracts.

[Cyclenall]

When it was all said and done, oil prices actually fell $0.57 today .

No, October contracts closed today at 120-something. The $108 is a new day of trading and is for November contracts.

I had a feeling that was the way it was. I don't know what the deal is with these monthly contracts though, I haven't heard of them until now. What is so significant about September/October/November?

[gtalum]

I had a feeling that was the way it was. I don't know what the deal is with these monthly contracts though, I haven't heard of them until now. What is so significant about September/October/November?

When you see the price of oil listed on the commodities market, what you're actually seeing is kind of like an over/under bet as to what the price will be in the future. The October contracts expired yesterday, and everyone who had "shorted" the futures (everyone who had bet that the price would drop further) had to cover their contracts (and lose their butts in the process) by buying the October contracts at the going rate. The thing is most people who were "long" and in a position to sell contracts decided to hold on to their contracts until the last minute. Since a lot of people needed to buy contracts, and nobody was selling until the last minute, the price shot up. Now that October contracts have expired, we're on to the November contracts, and those are set back at a more realistic price.

[somethingfunny]

Don't answer this question it's rhetorical...:

How is it possible that NOBODY is going to decide to sell their long contracts until the last minute? How could they co-ordinate something like that...? Stock markets typically behave irrationally, so for the vast majority of contract holders to hang on until the last minute in a concerted effort to get a better price out of the short-buyers.....that implies that all of the oil contracts are concentrated in the hands of only a handful of people who are in each others' "Fave Five" cell phone plans. And why does their stupid betting game have ANY effect on how much MY oil costs? I didn't take out a freaking futures contract! I don't even believe in gambling!

Anyway gas is back to $3.31 at the Lucky Stop in Denison. We'll see how long that lasts.....

[somethingfunny]

You know, I did the math once: Here in Denison I was still able to get gas at $3.97 when oil was at $145+ per 40-gallon barrell. That's an oil price of $3.62/gallon.

Therefore, gasoline only costs about $0.35 cents per gallon to ship, refine, transport, pay gasoline taxes, and pass along massive profits to Exxon's shareholders. The rest goes to the Saudis, the Russians, the Iranians, and the rest of the hands that feed us, and the oil speculators on Wall Street who feed them.