Gas prices top $4 per gallon in Ann Arbor area; statewide average up 2 cents
AAA Michigan says the statewide average price for gasoline is up 2 cents to $3.98, but in Ann Arbor, many motorists already are paying more than $4 per gallon.
The price for regular unleaded at the Shell station at South State Street and Eisenhower Boulevard this morning was $4.15 per gallon, said manager Americo Santiago. He said the price climbed above $4 over the weekend.
At the Citgo station at 3650 S. State St., the price was $4.09. A man who said he is the manager but refused to give his name said customers frequently complain about the price. They blame the economy and unrest in the Middle East for higher gas prices, he said.
He said he makes only about 1 cent per gallon on gas he sells to people who pay with credit cards and about 9 or 10 cents on gas paid for with cash.
Gasbuddy.com, an online service that collects reported prices for gasoline, reported the highest price in Ann Arbor was $4.19 per gallon at the BP station at South State Street and Hilton Boulevard. A Mobil station on South State Street and a Citgo at 2955 Packard St. also had gas for $4.19 per gallon.
The cheapest price for gas in the area was at Sam's Club at Carpenter Road and West Michigan Avenue in Pittsfield Township, where a gallon of unleaded regular was selling for $3.86 this morning. Several other stations nearby were selling gas for $3.88 per gallon, GasBuddy.com reported.
Comments
SonnyDog09
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 11:05 a.m.
I just think of it as Jimmy Carter's second term.
CynicA2
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 7:49 a.m.
All the Fed has to do is quit QE2, and start raising interest rates, and this whole commodity price bubble will collapse like the housing bubble before it. Artificially low rates to enable the rescue of the banksters, brokesters, and other financial criminals have enabled this boom in commodity prices of all sorts. There are no physical shortages - it is all easy money chasing a quick buck. Cut Bernanke's foot off the monetary accelerator, and all this "next" bubble will deflate like a sloppy souffle. The same criminals are still running the show, and you and I are paying the price. Eat the rich!
Diagenes
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 1:55 a.m.
The current chairman of the Federal Reserve was appointed by President Obama. Monetary policy contributes to high gas prices. Limited refining capacity in the U.S. along with increasing demand from China, has caused the rise in gas prices. We should be coverting our auto fleet to CNG instead of ethanol and electric.
CynicA2
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 8:50 p.m.
Actually, he was appointed by Bush... Obama just reappointed him to a second term. Increased demand is a factor, but not the dominant factor, as all commodity prices are rising. Also there are no actual supply shortages, especially here in the states, where crude oil inventories are very high, and demand is not growing much, even with a the so-called recovery. QE2, and ultra-low rates, created by Fed policies, have devalued the dollar significantly, and since oil is traded in dollars, it takes more of them now to buy a given amount.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 1:13 a.m.
Thanks, Obama, for devaluing our currency and making this possible.
DBlaine
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 4:06 a.m.
Dude, you've got some serious blinders on. Here's a quiz: When did the dollar fall 40 percent in value against the Euro? Answer: 2002 to 2008.
Carole
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 11:30 p.m.
The increase in gas prices is nothing more than a ploy to fill the pockets of the greedy oil corporations. The state of the United States is in a terrible fix -- big corporations own and rule. And, unfortunately with all of the major contributions to campaign funds, the contributors own those in public office. It is a sad state of affairs. Maybe if we all just took to staying home every weekend -- do block parties, save on gas usage, maybe the price might come down. Supply vs. demand or fill oil corporations pockets vs. save a little on gas by not using it.
L. C. Burgundy
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 12:42 a.m.
Mike - not just 401k's - the big pension funds are all deeply invested in Wall St. - CA's state pension program, calpers, I believe is one of the biggest institutional investors on Wall St. these days.
Mike
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 11:55 p.m.
If you have a 401K plan (i.e. you aren't a government pensioner) then you are invested in big, greedy business and better hope to heck they do well and make a big fat profit. Otherwise you should keep on good terms with your dog so when you have to eat his food he won't bite you. This is not a supply and demand issue. Oil consumption has decreased and the price has gone up because the dollar is becoming worth less and less every week due to us printing more and more dollars. This is factual information available to anyone who doesn't get there news from John Daly or Steven Colbert
TinyArtist
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 10:50 p.m.
My wife and I plan to do a lot more bussing. At our age, I hope it doesn't scare the youngsters!
julieswhimsies
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 10:19 p.m.
Have errands that must be done tomorrow...Guess I'll just have to saddle up.
Dog Guy
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 8:47 p.m.
U.S.A. has super-immense reserves of oil up north and out west. The price, however, rises as the Federal Reserve's currency is diluted, debased, and devalued. Many other consumer items (e.g. beef) have about doubled in dollars in the past two years. Technojunkie's comment is so obviously correct that longtime teachers should die of shame that it needs mentioning. We teachers are expected to repeat the absurd lie that petroleum and natural gas are fossil fuels like coal, rather than geologically generated. Even the concept of truth is suppressed in schools.
DBlaine
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 10:12 p.m.
Dog Guy, Here's the truth: As long as it costs more money to pump the oil out of Texas and ANWAR, we'll get our oil from the Mid East. Doesn't matter who's in the White House. And you know what, since it costs less than $10 to pump a barrel of oil out of Saudi, it'll be like that for a long, long time. So if you want to pay MORE for your oil, go ahead, pump away domestically!
Atticus F.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 9:13 p.m.
Dog guy, let me break it down to it's simplest form, so it's easy for you to understand... Every year, they guy who flips burgers at mcdonalds gets a raise. And every year, the cost of a Big Mack goes up 10 cents. People can afford to pay more for that big mack, because they are now making more money. At this point, people are not making more, yet the cost of a big mack is still going up. This is defying the economic laws of supply and demand. And there are deeper, more complicated answers to what is happening than just saying 'we are printing too much money'.
Soothslayer
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 8:18 p.m.
Boo frikkity hoo! Ante up America with the rest of the world and tax it another 100% so it hits $8/gal, invest those tax revenues in better urban planning, alternative energy, energy reduction and efficient mass transit projects. 20 year plan to wean us off foreign oil. Start now! Look for $5/gal gas by fall. Yeah (insert name of current president here) sets the price of oil. Sure thing.
DBlaine
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 4:02 a.m.
@LC, riddle me this... How does Obama have anything to do with how much oil gets pumped up out of the US? Try this on for size: It costs three times as much to pump a gallon of oil out of Texas and ANWAR than it does the Middle East. Still with me? Given that price disparity, NOBODY is going to pump more oil in the US because just as soon as they do, they've lost money. There's no difference in a drop of oil from Texas or a drop of oil from the Middle East. So the market is ALWAYS going to favor the Middle East. You're not going to pump more oil in the US without one of two things -- MASSIVE government subsidies -- more than oil already gets -- or the price on the market increases and keeps going up.
L. C. Burgundy
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 12:41 a.m.
Mike - you've hit upon Andy's plan pretty squarely. High commodity prices are good since they punish the (R)'s in the country and red states. Unfortunately for Andy's desire for energy independence, the Obama administration has worked hard to shut down (see: Arctic Sea and Gulf of Mexico) domestic energy development so our foreign reliance is increasing, not decreasing.
Mike
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 11:50 p.m.
How is better urban planning going to work when most don't live in cities? What economically viable alternative energy have you invented that you'd like to share with the rest of us? Who says we want to be like the rest of the world? Maybe you should move to one of the more superior countries you so admire. We have reduced energy consumption and should continue to do so. Mass transit works when you have one city after another, we don't have that here. All mass transit in America is economically unviable and it has to be subsidized with tax dollars. If you want higher taxes then please go somewhere that has a tax structed and socialist philosophy that you seem enamored with. I would assume that is your real picture based on what you've written.
bluemax79
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:57 p.m.
unrest in the middle east ONLY affects us because we let Environmental wacko's lobby congress with OPEC money to stop Drilling on American soil. our governernment has allowed this to happen and ONLY care because it may hurt their only REAL job, getting RE-ELECTED. that is all they really care about, getting re-elected so they can have their bloated pensions and premium healthcare bought on the backs of those of us who work and contribute tax money to the governernment. its digusting really
John B.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 9:49 p.m.
Wrong. The price of gas has gone up quickly recently due to one thing only: legal speculation in the futures market. Our demand is down, but the price is still going up. Only speculation can achieve that.
toofmullets
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:41 p.m.
Just SPECULATING here, but I wonder if commodity trading has anything to do with this....
DeeAA
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:13 p.m.
Reduce our dependance on foreign oil as fast as possible, by increasing alternate energy sources. Than we won't be at the mercy of the oil barons here and abroad.
Z-man
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 10:09 p.m.
John B., we use negligible amounts of oil for electrical power generation, so using alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, or geothermal will not have an effect on the fuels that we consume in vehicles. However, improvements in battery technology are making plug-in hybrids move viable all the time. Add some nukes to make the incremental electrical energy, and we can reduce our importation of oil. We can also move forward on ethanol, which doesn't have to be made from corn. Cellulostic ethanol has potential, as do processes that use a plasma arc and the Fisher-Tropsch catalytics to make ethanol from feedstocks such as garbage. And it wouldn't hurt to import some ethanol from Brazil, where it's made from sugar cane. Brazil uses 90% ethanol for their vehicles, and there's no reason why we should put a tariff on its importation when we could acquire it a lot cheaper than $4.00 gasoline.
John B.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 9:46 p.m.
P.S. Just say 'NO' to ethanol from corn. That's a GWB-promoted disaster.
John B.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 9:45 p.m.
BM: It doesn't need to be 'invented.' There are lots of things that exist RIGHT NOW that can reduce our consumption of petro-dictator oil (and natural gas, and coal, for that matter). How about using less? Conservation, done thoroughly, could cut consumption 15-20 percent, easily. More nuclear power could further reduce the use of NG (and coal). Wind power can help too, as can solar and geothermal. All of these technologies already exist in robust forms. Sticking one's head in the sand and continuing to drive one's Escalade while doing nothing differently won't help much, though.
bluemax79
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:59 p.m.
how about we INVENT some viable options before we cut off the oil supply ? I would LOVE to have my care run on solar power or the wind or by burning garbage that won't have to go into a landfill. but can we INVENT it FIRST? this is killing what little progress the economy has made.
Z-man
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:44 p.m.
What alternate energy sources are you considering? Ethanol?
snoopdog
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:03 p.m.
Retail gas prices have more than doubled since Obama took office, why is no one blaming him like G.W.Bush ? This country has no energy policy at all which is putting us in serious risk financially and physically by having our soldiers dying overseas. Good Day
L. C. Burgundy
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 12:37 a.m.
We're also in a war for oil (for Europe) in Libya. Whatever happened to the trusty protesters bearing "NO WAR FOR OIL" signs? Oh, sorry, forgot to check for the (D) on the party affiliation line. My bad.
Atticus F.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 8:04 p.m.
Well, we are still in a war in the middle east the G.W. started. Anytime there is unrest in an oil producing country, there will be a rise in gas prices.
DeeAA
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:10 p.m.
So...the solution to having our soldiers dying overseas is BRING THE TROOPS BACK HOME. That also cuts our financial outlays for those wars.
Top Cat
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 6:16 p.m.
I never imagined I would have to live through the Seventies a second time.
mentalNomad
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 12:37 a.m.
If only people had listened to Jimmy Carter's energy policies rather than ridiculing him, where would the world be now?
Atticus F.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 5:01 p.m.
Technojunkie, have you not yet made a correlation between the SUDDEN rise in fuel prices, and the political unrest in the Middle East? Sounds like you haven't taken into acount any other factors, other than what Fox News has been spoon feeding people.
Atticus F.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 9:03 p.m.
technojunkie, The greatest rate of inflation in recent years was under GW Bush. Our dollar has lost value against all currencies in the past 10 years. I realize that printing too much money creates inflation, but a stimulus plan is designed to do just that, simulate the circulation of money in a time when less money is in circulation. My point is that the stimulus is a very small factor in what has been going on. And in the overall big picture, we need to look at the amount people are making in referance to how much we are paying to get to work. Inflation is dependant on people making more money...last time I checked, my paycheck isn't any bigger than it was a year ago. nor is anybody elses that I know.
Technojunkie
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:58 p.m.
Atticus F., have you not yet made a correlation between the SUDDEN rise in federal deficits under Obama and commodity prices? It's not just fuel, it's everything. The Middle East has always been a violent mess. Supply disruptions aren't the problem because, as I pointed out, the Saudis are cutting back due to slack demand. Maybe you should listen to us Austrian economists on the Right instead of the Keynesian Left that got us into this fiat paper mess?
Atticus F.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:56 p.m.
Also, anybody who has not noticed a correlation between high gas prices, speculation, and turmoil in the middle east, is not paying very close attention. Look at the date that the unrest in Libya began, and then compare that to price of a barrel of oil. if you cant see the a patern, then maybe you should find something else to debate, this is a little too advanced for you.
Atticus F.
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:50 p.m.
I'm just saying, it seems like technojunkie has tunnel vision, in which he sees only what he wants to, and ignores any other possible contributing factors. And andys, my comment was in regaurds to the SUDDEN rise in oil prices, as is this article. One thing that needs to be understood, is that inflation is related to the amount of money in circulation. The reason there have been stimulus efforts put out, is because there is less money in circulation. In other words when people have more money, the value of money goes down. When money is funneled up to the wealthy, it creates a whole new dynamic in which it sits in offshore bank acounts, and is no longer being circulated.
andys
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:32 p.m.
But let me pull my big boy pants on and say, gold has historically purchased the same amount of oil. Its just the dollar that has been devalued. The Fed is destroying the dollar. Monetary policy under the last two presidents have been disastrous. Scary stuff is coming.
cinnabar7071
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 4:12 p.m.
Didn't we just give Brazil $2billion to drill in the Gulf of Mexico? Whats up with that?
Dog Guy
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 8:28 p.m.
Petrobraz oil from the wells funded by Obama and Soros is contracted to The People's Republic.
Z-man
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:43 p.m.
Yes, Obama approved the loan to Petrobras (Brazil's national oil company) and during his recent trip there he stated that we want to become one of Brazil's best customers. This happened a week after Obama stated he intends to reduce our importation of oil. I doubt it's a coincidence that the $2 billion for Petrobras occurred right after Obama's buddy George Soros invested $800 million in Petrobras. Hmmmm.
Technojunkie
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 3:10 p.m.
The unconstitutional Federal Reserve's massive money printing, enabling Obama's $1.5T/year+ deficits, is the main cause. Inflation shows up in commodities first. Food, fuel, metal. The gas price sure isn't rising from demand, which has been blunted by the lousy economy. Saudi Arabia recently announced that they're cutting output due to slack demand. Unemployed people don't drive much. I sure don't. Dollars are representations of wealth. Increase the number of dollars faster than real wealth and each dollar loses value. That's inflation. Oil priced in gold and silver, real money, is still cheap. The 1964 minimum wage, paid out in 1964 90% silver coins, is over $30/hour in today's inflated paper.
Mike
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 11:45 p.m.
Right on with your analysis. Oil is purchased in US dollars. As we print more dollars to pay our national debt (we borrow .42 of every dollar we spend) the value of the dollar becomes less and less. Therefore it takes more dollars to purchase that same barrel of oil. And our president is putting together a task force to look for fraud and corruption and speculators while ignoring the economics of this all. Even if we drill more here, which we should to become less dependent upon foreign oil, oil would cost more because the dollar is worth. Notice your grocery bills rising? I rest my case.
DBlaine
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 8:40 p.m.
The Fed has no control over gas prices. Sorry, try again.
Greggy_D
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 4:50 p.m.
Exactly. Look at a trend chart comparing the value of the dollar vs. gas prices. They are a mirror image of each other.
Ignatz
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 3:29 p.m.
Good points, Technojunkie. I propose we slash the military to a 100,000 man standing force with full nuke capability. Get out of Afghanistan and Iraq, both unfunded wars staerted by he who shall not be named. That'll cut the budget and fuel use.