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Big_Kahuna

By Big_Kahuna
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KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted

Kroger’s in Montgomery Texas. 3.59 yesterday. 3.49 today. Weird. 😳

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diyer2
diyer2

Worked at a full service gas station in high school with 2 bays for repairs. Mechanical pumps, cheap oil in cardboard quarts and mostly cash sales. Gas rarely went over 30 cents a gallon for regular. 

Grumpy Bear
Grumpy Bear

Now we are in my wheelhouse     Any refinery that can run sour crude can and does process sweet. Just can't do it as efficiently. Fact, no refinery in the USA processes ONLY sour crude. They

txab
txab

Again politics is not a subject for the site. It's specifically mentioned in the site rules. People are only going to argue.   Gas price listing are fine without all the political comment.

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diyer2 Senior Enthusiast

diyer2

Posted
Posted

$4.35 85 oct. 

Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted

Out and about yesterday on a long Saturday drive I passed a lot of Shell stations. My preferred, so I pay attention. Lot's of small town Illinois so not six stations in three blocks like the city. 

 

Everyone of them over a radius of say 100 miles had regular at $4.19 but one which was the one closest to home at $4.15. However Premium pricing varied greatly between 85 cents over regular to $1.50 over. I'm not counting the price of the station with the lowest regular so the reference is the same for the remainder and all within the same brand. However the spread discrepancy holds across all brands.  

 

@txab, any thoughts on that? 

richard wysong Senior Enthusiast

richard wysong

Posted
Posted

Question for you Grumpy, why is diesel so much more than gasoline? Seems to me that it may be slightly a little less refined than gas and it doesn't have 10% alcohol which presumably lowers the price of gas

KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, richard wysong said:

Question for you Grumpy, why is diesel so much more than gasoline? Seems to me that it may be slightly a little less refined than gas and it doesn't have 10% alcohol which presumably lowers the price of gas

Around 2008 if memory serves they took sulfur out. That was when diesel went up. 

Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, richard wysong said:

Question for you Grumpy, why is diesel so much more than gasoline? Seems to me that it may be slightly a little less refined than gas and it doesn't have 10% alcohol which presumably lowers the price of gas

 

Swap costs and supply/demand balance. When a barrel comes out of the ground the entire range of products are present but not all at the same percentage. 

 

Breakdown of Refined Products

The following table summarizes the approximate output from a standard 42-gallon barrel of crude oil:

Product Type Gallons per Barrel Percentage of Total
Gasoline 20 gallons 45%
Diesel Fuel 9 gallons 21%
Other Products 13 gallons 31%

 

Most of that diesel figure is 'straight run' or cut from the barrel. Gasoline 'cut from the barrel runs 0 to 20% at the crude. So in the crude unit there is more diesel the gasoline, usually.  The full refining experience however gives the tabled values. Ego there is half the diesel than gasoline after the 'first crack' That could be an FCC unit, or Isomax or....

 

Those units take heavy products and break the big ones into little ones. Those numbers are harder to get hold of but directionally it ends up the same. 

 

Really light products are very profitable. Ethylene and Propylene to name two. Those are cracked from slightly heavier feeds like NG and Propane and Ethane. The cracker harshness determines the feed for distillation. Those feeds come from less profitable products like diesel and gasoline. 

 

So...there is a swap cost. How much market is there TODAY and what crude am I running TODAY..... what is my process capable of always. 

 

There is this as well. The USA uses allot more gasoline than it does diesel so in the cracker the process is tilted to gasoline production which....limits supply of diesel. OTR uses the most and it has different requirements than automotive and agricultural.  Limiting auto products. 

 

You are correct however. It is less refined, just less of it. Allot less. 

Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
46 minutes ago, KARNUT said:

Around 2008 if memory serves they took sulfur out. That was when diesel went up. 

 

It added a cost layer to an already limited production supply. True that. 

KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

 

It added a cost layer to an already limited production supply. True that. 

I figured you would know about it.

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Atlas Senior Enthusiast

Atlas

Posted
Posted

$5.19 regular and mid-6's for diesel here. Ethanol-free 92 is back up near $7 at the stations that offer it

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Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted (edited)

Big oil is raking in billions from the Iran war. Can it avoid Trump’s fury?

 

Remember I said Big Oil is 'Vertically Integrated"?

 

Even as they no longer own the majority of the "Pump" they still own the "Well". Crude price upward pressure does not translate into that same pressure on production. Pumping cost remain unaffected and the gap is pure profit. Even after subtraction of a minor, comparatively, lower amount from supposed, but not always, realized refining volume. Consumers hate war, Big Oil, not so much.

Edited by Grumpy Bear
Atlas Senior Enthusiast

Atlas

Posted
Posted

$5.19 after Kroger discount for 87 today. Moses!

 

Somehow I've already put 560 miles on the Blazer with the last tank clocking 19mpg.

richard wysong Senior Enthusiast

richard wysong

Posted
Posted (edited)

yo-yo prices on the hi-way the last couple days, Sunoco was $3.75, went down to $3.74 then up to $3.81, the twin Gulf stations ( 1 on both sides of the divided hi-way, same owner) was $3.84 and went to $3.89, Mobil went down a nickel, $3.89-$3.84 and dropped the plastic price a dime, to $3.89,truck stop went up a nickel to $3.85

Edited by richard wysong

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