Better Fill up today

[Jo McDonald]

I remember well the days of rationing and I hopeland pray we don't have to go back to that.  Having said that, we all can cut back on a lot of things, but having to pull the rabbit out of the hat by some of us to let the rest do as them darn well please, gets my dander up...but good !!!

[sixdogsmom]

I use shanks' mare for here in town, limit my out of town shopping to every two weeks. I probably put 100 wasteful miles on my Miata per year. It is purely a toy, having done without through the years, this is my vanity. It gets about 25 mi per gallon which is the same for my van. I plan to buy one more vehicle in my lifetime, but not picking it out just yet. Gonna drive this van till it drops, a few dollars at the pump won't make that much difference in what we save.

I think a lot of the folks drive large vehicles back east and on the coast is for safety reasons. The roads are so crowded, it is not if you will have an accident, but when you will have an accident. The heavy vehicles are safer in the long run, and I can see why people want them. I do however hate to see these big vehicles driving around the town loaded with kids. Just driving and driving. Too bad.  

[Tobina+1]

Frank; I can't remember if you addressed this already, but I saw something on the news that gas in Mexico is much cheaper than across the borders in the US... BUT... their gas is made with more sulpher and can/might be dangerous to typical US vehicles.  That hasn't stopped a lot of people, though, as short-term needs for lower gas prices has outweighed the fear of having their engines damaged quicker.

Angie; I agree about needing gas-guzzling trucks and tractors for farmers/ranchers to survive.  The ranch has recently purchased one of those mini trucks to try out, like the one you have!  They might get another for Chuck; instead of him hauling his horse to the pastures to move cows one day, and then drive back 2 days later to put out mineral, he might be able to cut out the 2nd trip with his truck and use the Mini to haul mineral.  At 7 mpg for the diesel truck vs. 40 mpg for the Mini, that will add up to a big savings for the ranch.

[frawin]

Tobina, one reason gas is cheaper in Old Mexico is they have an excess of oil and in fact they sell the US crude Oil. Also they do not have the automobiles per capita and they don't drive the same size vehicles we do and they don't drive the miles per capita. In some parts of Mexico poverty is at its worst.

Tobina, I have driven cattle horseback from Howard to the Hills, Eagle head and other areas, also from Howard to the Roby Ranch. That was 50 t0 55 years ago and it was done to save the trucking costs. Also I have hauled Cattle to the Hills in a 2 ton truck with a 6 Cylinder engine, I couldn't go as fast as the big v-8s and I had to shift down more but it can be done. I have Pulled Horse trailers to the hills loaded with a 6 Cylinder 4 wheel drive truck and never thought anything about it. Only saying it is not impossible to do lots of Farm and Ranch work without the monster Diesel and V-8s gas engine. I have feed cattle all day long in the worst of weather with a 6 cylinder 4 wheel drive truck and didn't think anything about it. Hopefully the necessary changes will come gradual and be less painful than many think. We are a spoiled nation when it comes to the Automobile and what we think we HAVE to have.

Frank

[frawin]

Kuwait produces 2.58 Million Barrels of oil per day, they sell 200,000 Barrels per day to the US. This is a country that Saddam Hussein over ran, slaughtered masses of people and the United States stepped in and kicked Hussein's tail back to Baghdad. Somehow there seems to be something wrong with this, Kuwait has always been an Ally to the US in the Middle East.
Frank

[Teresa]

Gas in NEW Mexico isn't cheaper.
Gas was  $4.09 in places but most was $3.90. 

We drove a Ford Expedition...and it really didn't do that bad with gas mileage. I was surprised. And the ride was wonderful. We got home early this morning and we were worn slick.
Kjell drove the whole way and was bound and determined that he was going to sleep in his own bed last night( or this morning  )
We left Albuquerque at 11:00 a.m.  and pulled into Howard at   3:30 a.m. We stopped for a gasoline, stretch and bathroom break 3 times, and ate at McDonald's in Oklahoma City and came right on from there.
It is real good to be home. 

[sixdogsmom]

Welcome home! Knowin' you are dog tired. Been there, done that! Sleep well!

[dutch]

"Home Sweet Home" sure has a nice ring to it, eh?

[frawin]

Crude Oil Little Changed Before Forecast Drop in U.S. Supplies

By Grant Smith

-- Crude oil traded little changed near $137 a barrel in New York before a U.S. government report forecast to show a decline in U.S. crude inventories.

Crude-oil stockpiles probably fell 1.1 million barrels in the week ended June 20 from 301 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Department report today. Oil gained earlier on output losses in Nigeria, where Chevron Corp. yesterday suspended export obligations on onshore production.

Crude oil for August delivery was at $136.88 a barrel, 12 cents lower in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:45 a.m. in London. It earlier gained as much as 58 cents.

[frawin]

Inventory Report comes out today, it will be interesting to see the numbers and the trend. Crude is trading flat to off this A.M.
Frank
Gasoline Demand Falls 2.7% Amid Record Prices, MasterCard Says

By Barbara Powell

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. gasoline demand fell 2.7 percent last week, a sign motorists are cutting back on vacation plans as pump prices touch records, a MasterCard Inc. report today showed.

Consumers purchased an average 9.45 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended June 20, down from 9.71 million a year earlier, MasterCard, the second-biggest credit-card company, said in its weekly SpendingPulse report. It was the ninth consecutive week of declines from the year-earlier period.

Demand rose 1.5 percent from the previous week.

``High gasoline prices are depressing the normal peak driving season that occurs this time of year,'' Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors, said in an e-mail.

The national average pump price for regular gasoline rose 3 cents to $4.07 a gallon, up 36 percent from a year earlier and the highest in data going back to October 2006, the report showed. Prices on the West Coast rose 7 cents to an average $4.45 a gallon.

The report from Purchase, New York-based MasterCard was assembled by MasterCard Advisors, the company's consulting arm, and is based on credit card swipes and cash and check payments at about 140,000 U.S. gasoline stations.

The Energy Department estimated demand of 9.25 million barrels a day for the week ended June 13. MasterCard said demand was 9.1 million barrels a day for the same period. The government's next petroleum report is set for release tomorrow.

Visa Inc. is the biggest credit card company by transactions processed.



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