What are you Paying for Gasoline? Petrol Prices Around the World

[gpainter]

Watch for falling gas prices. 87 was at $2.84 this morning in Southern Indiana, Jasper. Down from $2.89 last night

 

[gpainter]

Just curious. I noticed in one post they said 85. I did not think that any engine manufacture reccomended anything less than 87. I noticed that some mentioned the 93. I had been told that running that high of octane is not good and you shoud run the one that will run the best in your car (no pings) other that at every oil change to help clean out the injectors. I use 93 in all my two cycles to keep the carb from gumming up. I used to use 87 in my boat and always had trouble with it gumming up. I took it to an old timer and he said to run the 93 and mix with oil. Never had any gum trouble after that. Our Casey station is selling 89 at 5 cents cheaper than 87!

 

[Jim Wynne]

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I'll be d*mned if I haven't noticed a pattern with gas prices over the years, beginning back in the early seventies when I started paying attention to such things. Actually, that was when I started paying attention in general, but never mind. Let's say the price of gas is $2.50 per gallon. The desired price is $2.85, but a leap from $2.50 to 2.85 might be perceived as gross, so instead, over the course of a few weeks, the price is raised to $3.00. People are predictably p*ssed off, and mumbling and grumbling, but then, all of a sudden, the price comes down to $2.85, and now people are sort of happy, at least happier than they were with $3.00 gas, and much happier than they would have been at a single jump from $2.50 to $2.85. Everything is relative. Right now, the $2.85 gas you bought this morning seems like relief, and maybe that's part of the plan.
(Please don't ask me what plan, or whose plan it is--allow me this small bit of paranoia.)

 

[Bill Pflanz]

Just curious. I noticed in one post they said 85. I did not think that any engine manufacture reccomended anything less than 87. I noticed that some mentioned the 93. I had been told that running that high of octane is not good and you shoud run the one that will run the best in your car (no pings) other that at every oil change to help clean out the injectors. I use 93 in all my two cycles to keep the carb from gumming up. I used to use 87 in my boat and always had trouble with it gumming up. I took it to an old timer and he said to run the 93 and mix with oil. Never had any gum trouble after that. Our Casey station is selling 89 at 5 cents cheaper than 87!

You may have seen some comments about a gasoline grade called E85 which is a special ethanol blend. Sun Oil used to sell a fourth grade that was 85 octane but I think even they stopped blending that grade since it is not recommended for today's cars.

If you have a high performance engine that requires 93 than that is what you should use or you might have engine knock that can damage it. "Gumming up" has nothing to do with octane. Cycle and boat engines may be different but no modern cars have carburatours (sp?)anymore. Even with that I would not add oil to those engines unless it is required.

My wife just got a new car so I was looking at the gasoline recommendation. It specifically recommended regular gasoline only and said that a higher premium gasoline may even result in lower gas mileage. To the extent that the gasoline does not clog injectors, it is related to some detergents that are additives in all gasoline but is more related to how dirty the tanks are at the gas station.

Bill Pflanz

 

[Al Dyer]

$2.56 per gallon here in Eastern Michigan!

And back to that oldie but goody, I believe that refinery capacity is the big catylist.

 

[mshell]

$2.75 a gallon this morning in central GA.

 

[Rachel]

Well, has dropped down below the $1/L mark again here. 99.1cents/L this morning. Should be a little easier on the pocketbook - especially with one month left to my wedding, and all the driving and errand-running that will need to be done in between!

 

[Sean Kelley]

$2.69 here in S. Central PA. It has dropped from $3.19 over the last few weeks.

 

[Dave Dunn]

In the Stillwater Minnesota area, gas has dropped to $2.49 from a high of about 3.09 just a couple weeks ago.

I think the big impetus for the drop, aside from production coming back up to capacity, is the temporary repeal of the insane fuel blend requirements. What is it, about 40 different blend requirements across the country?!? Simplify your supply chain and you lower prices. Personally I'd like to see the repeal become permanent.

 

[Scott Catron]

Just curious. I noticed in one post they said 85. I did not think that any engine manufacture reccomended anything less than 87.

That was probably me. I'm in Utah, elevation about 4500 feet. I've always been told the octane doesn't have to be as high at higher elevations. Here's an explanation I found doing a google search:

"Pre-detonation requires a mix of oxygen, fuel, heat & compression. Lower one of those factors and the conditions for pre-detonation change. Less oxygen, as found in higher altitudes, makes pre-detonation harder to take place, thus reducing the requirement for a higher octane, which is used to resist a fuel's ability to ignite under compression. The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites."

Our Casey station is selling 89 at 5 cents cheaper than 87!

Was the 89 octane an ethanol blend?