# $2 / Gal Gasoline as OPEC tries to kill US Fracking.....



## Road Guy (Dec 2, 2014)

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2014/12/01/happy-holidays-from-opec-will-gas-drop-to-2/

So the rumor out here in Fracking Country is that OPEC is pissed at the dent that US Oil (via fracking) is casuing them so they are flooding the worlds oil market with cheap oil to starve out US Oil companies. Apparently fracking is much more expensive than drilling it through the desert and is only profitable at $75/ Barrell


----------



## Ken PE 3.1 (Dec 2, 2014)

That will probably do the trick.


----------



## csb (Dec 2, 2014)

That's why fracking died in the early 80s.


----------



## knight1fox3 (Dec 2, 2014)

csb said:


> That's why fracking died in the early 80s.


Are you fracking kidding me?! :huh:


----------



## csb (Dec 2, 2014)

Err...let me clarify. This is why Western Colorado fracking died in the early 80s, causing those towns to bust. It's back, but I'd hazard that we've been down this fracking extravaganza in the 70s and then oil got cheap in the 80s.

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to some crap that guy said.


----------



## csb (Dec 2, 2014)

Oh, let me backup. I meant oil shale. Sorry. Had my energy extractions confused.


----------



## Road Guy (Dec 2, 2014)

http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/02/investing/oil-fight-opec-us-shale-boom/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

this is saying that fracking stays profitable down to $42 / barrel.. That would pretty much shut down the Saudi's ..

Hell I would love to do anything that screws over the middle east oil production/ South American &amp;/or Russian Oil production and causes us to pay $1.50 a gallon again...

However I am sure our politicians will somehow fuck this up for us all


----------



## csb (Dec 2, 2014)

At a $1.50 a gallon, I might buy a car*.

*$1.50/gal in the Rocky Mountain Region


----------



## engineergurl (Dec 2, 2014)

I remember back when gas wasn't even a $1 a gallon


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 2, 2014)

engineergurl said:


> I remember back when gas wasn't even a $1 a gallon


this. 1999-2000 it was floating around 99 cents a gal. about the time I got a car full time at college.


----------



## engineergurl (Dec 2, 2014)

snickerd3 said:


> engineergurl said:
> 
> 
> > I remember back when gas wasn't even a $1 a gallon
> ...




same here, I took the car with me for the first time in the spring 1999 semester and 99 cents seemed expensive, lol


----------



## Road Guy (Dec 2, 2014)

engineergurl said:


> I remember back when gas wasn't even a $1 a gallon




I was trying not to jinx it!

If gas even goes to $1.50 a gallon It will save me at least $40 a week in gas...


----------



## Flyer_PE (Dec 2, 2014)

I'm all for anything that results in not having to swipe the card twice at the pump to fill up my truck.


----------



## Dleg (Dec 2, 2014)

csb said:


> Oh, let me backup. I meant oil shale. Sorry. Had my energy extractions confused.


It's the same thing, I think - the big fracking boom now is extracting oil and gas from shale formations. The difference in price from the 80s is because they figured out how to do it less expensively.

F' OPEC, I say. Shut off their imports to the US.


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 3, 2014)

down to $2.59 a gal here this morning!!!!


----------



## engineergurl (Dec 3, 2014)

snickerd3 said:


> down to $2.59 a gal here this morning!!!!




lol... you must have high taxes... ours have been around $2.40 and below since last week...


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 3, 2014)

we do! IL has many gas taxes on top of the city and state.


----------



## NJmike PE (Dec 3, 2014)

$2.57/ gal here in the armpit


----------



## Slugger926 (Dec 3, 2014)

Only a fraction of the wells need $70 or more to be profitable. Majority are at least above $40, and quite a few can drop to $12 and still be profitable. From what I am gathering, small seems that used to be ignored in the 80's are now very profitable.

The truth may be a global effort against Russia.


----------



## goodal (Dec 3, 2014)

i paid 0.88$ once in 1998 in west KY. Cost about $12 to fill up the old celica.


----------



## blybrook PE (Dec 3, 2014)

Still $3.50+ in these parts! And we have several oil fields and refineries.

I haven't paid under $1.00 a gallon since 1998. I'd love to pay that again!


----------



## Road Guy (Dec 3, 2014)

We should start building some more refineries and just sweep the leg on OPEC and the Russians oil business


----------



## NJmike PE (Dec 3, 2014)




----------



## Dleg (Dec 3, 2014)

Our gas is down to $4.40. Which is insane, but just a few months ago it was at $5.15, so I'm not complaining too hard.


----------



## engineergurl (Dec 4, 2014)

Dleg said:


> Our gas is down to $4.40. Which is insane, but just a few months ago it was at $5.15, so I'm not complaining too hard.




You mean you can't walk everywhere you need to go on the island?


----------



## Boomer01 PE (Dec 4, 2014)

There were a couple stations in Oklahoma City at $1.99 yesterday.


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 16, 2014)

filled up at $2.20 this morning. Mr snick filled up in STL yesterday at $2.09 it is dropping lower and lower


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Dec 16, 2014)

Article in the Denver Post over the weekend said there are multiple stations across the state with under $2/gal


----------



## csb (Dec 16, 2014)

engineergurl said:


> Dleg said:
> 
> 
> > Our gas is down to $4.40. Which is insane, but just a few months ago it was at $5.15, so I'm not complaining too hard.
> ...


----------



## envirotex (Dec 17, 2014)

Slugger926 said:


> Only a fraction of the wells need $70 or more to be profitable. Majority are at least above $40, and quite a few can drop to $12 and still be profitable. From what I am gathering, small seems that used to be ignored in the 80's are now very profitable.
> 
> The truth may be a global effort against Russia.


Depends on the producing basin...some Eagle Ford and Permian fields can go to $35-40, others start to lose at $65-70. Seeing some rigs idling...it's bad for some local economies (like Houston) but better for everyone else.

Only a couple of the OPEC countries can afford for the price to be so low (Saudi Arabia is one). Most of the countries need oil much higher ($70+) to meet their national budgets. Some people think it's not about US oil shale, but instead it's about the Saudis gaining market share in China.


----------



## DVINNY (Dec 17, 2014)

If fracking does tale off,I may have more time to spam EB.com again.


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 19, 2014)

$2.13 this morning!!


----------



## NJmike PE (Dec 19, 2014)

$2.29 is the cheapest I've seen here


----------



## FLBuff PE (Dec 19, 2014)

$2.60


----------



## Ken PE 3.1 (Dec 19, 2014)

$2.18 this morning


----------



## wilheldp_PE (Dec 19, 2014)

$1.98 here.


----------



## FLBuff PE (Dec 22, 2014)

$2.54


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 22, 2014)

saw $2.09 this morning


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 24, 2014)

filled up at $1.96 this morning!!!!! full tank for $33!!!


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 29, 2014)

Of the 3 gas stations on the corner when i came into town this morning. two were 1.87 and the other bumped their price up to 2.19.

So I stopped and filled up since it would not be that cheap after work

***update*** as predicted the other two gas stations were 2.19 on my way home. a 32 cent increase over a couple hrs is purely price gouging.


----------



## Road Guy (Dec 29, 2014)

filling up my 19 gallon gas guzzling Tahoe at $34 bucks a tank sure is nice..


----------



## P-E (Dec 29, 2014)

What goes down must come up is true for oil and cheap tequila.


----------



## Dleg (Dec 30, 2014)

Still $4.05 here. That pisses me off: oil has dropped over 50%, and our price has dropped only 20%. Nice profit, Exxon-Mobil and Shell.


----------



## snickerd3 (Dec 30, 2014)

^transportation costs to get it out there?


----------



## Dleg (Dec 30, 2014)

They're high, yes, but when oil drops 50%, I expect more than a 20% price cut.


----------



## Road Guy (Dec 30, 2014)

they probably have to bribe the local tribesman to get it off the boat!


----------



## Dleg (Dec 30, 2014)

If by local tribesmen you mean corrupt local politicians who live in mansions and drive Lexuses (Lexi?), then, yes.


----------



## Road Guy (Dec 30, 2014)

That is who I was referring to!


----------



## blybrook PE (Dec 30, 2014)

Still over $3 here too. Very few stations hovering just below $3 on the road system. Bush villages are running $6 to $10 per gallon unleaded due to the order date and shipping times.


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 2, 2015)

filled up at 1.96 with the shell freq card. the other two were at 2.19 so I'm not sure if shell dropped prices early or was late to the raising game. still a full tank for $34 is nice!


----------



## Flyer_PE (Jan 2, 2015)

Local stations were $1.97 here Wednesday. It's pretty nice being able to put more than a half-tank in my truck without swiping the card twice at the pump.


----------



## FLBuff PE (Jan 2, 2015)

$2.24


----------



## Dark Knight (Jan 2, 2015)

I have the feeling this is the calm before the storm so we better enjoy it. Whenever the gas prices come back up, and they will, will rise to the sky.

Am sure the OPEC is planning their payback.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 2, 2015)

I don't know, the United States now exports more oil then we import. I think we're looking pretty good, thanks to a lot of private ingenuity. I'm surprised that there hasn't been more effort by US environmental groups to stop this to be honest....


----------



## engineergurl (Jan 2, 2015)

Road Guy said:


> I don't know, the United States now exports more oil then we import. I think we're looking pretty good, thanks to a lot of private ingenuity. I'm surprised that there hasn't been more effort by US environmental groups to stop this to be honest....






There have been but it's not "newsworthy"


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 5, 2015)

$37 to fill Bee this morning. Nice.


----------



## engineergurl (Jan 5, 2015)

I just remembered that I will have to fill up in order to make it home today, I went a whole 21 days on a tank of gas, wow


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 5, 2015)

engineergurl said:


> I just remembered that I will have to fill up in order to make it home today, I went a whole 21 days on a tank of gas, wow


bastard....j/k


----------



## engineergurl (Jan 5, 2015)

snickerd3 said:


> engineergurl said:
> 
> 
> > I just remembered that I will have to fill up in order to make it home today, I went a whole 21 days on a tank of gas, wow
> ...




yes well, I also only drove 400 miles or so during that time


----------



## FLBuff PE (Jan 5, 2015)

$2.17/gallon


----------



## Flyer_PE (Jan 5, 2015)

I wanna know where my elected representatives are. Due to the dramatic change in the price of gas, shouldn't they be calling for hearings and wanting to crucify the oil companies and futures traders that supposedly control the commodity prices?

I find it amusing that they are more than willing to use the words "supply" and "demand" when the prices fall, they never seem to use those words when they're headed the other way.


----------



## mudpuppy (Jan 5, 2015)

I saw $1.72/gal yesterday in Flint. Odd that it was $2.19 in Georgia yesterday also, as it's usually a lot cheaper down there than here.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 5, 2015)

they are too busy taking credit for the low prices to worry about that..

I don't credit anyone but American ingenuity- (although I am sure several politicians are taking credit) All we need is a few more refinery's in this country...


----------



## Freon (Jan 5, 2015)

From the "Front Lines" of the oil industry....Expect prices to stabilize over the next few weeks. Then climb a little as we get into summer and have to change to "Summer Blend" gasoline. Domestic drilling is slowing down some, and a few projects are being scaled-back to minimum level to satisfy the terms of the leases. (Commonly called "Lease Protection Mode" in the industry.) The US oil &amp; gas industry can handle the low prices by shutting down production in the expensive-to-produce wells and scaling back drilling.

National oil companies that are inefficient, have high over-head cost, or are supporting weak economies (Think Russia, Nigeria, India, Norway, etc) are getting hit hard. They are the ones that can't tolerate low prices for very long.


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 5, 2015)

Freon said:


> From the "Front Lines" of the oil industry....Expect prices to stabilize over the next few weeks. Then climb a little as we get into summer and have to change to "Summer Blend" gasoline. Domestic drilling is slowing down some, and a few projects are being scaled-back to minimum level to satisfy the terms of the leases. (Commonly called "Lease Protection Mode" in the industry.) *The US oil &amp; gas industry can handle the low prices by shutting down production in the expensive-to-produce wells and scaling back drilling. *
> 
> National oil companies that are inefficient, have high over-head cost, or are supporting weak economies (Think Russia, Nigeria, India, Norway, etc) are getting hit hard. They are the ones that can't tolerate low prices for very long.


We are seeing this in our exploration company stocks we own. The refineries mr snicks works with are saying much of the same thing.


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 7, 2015)

filled up at $1.89 yesterday even though i could have waited. I didn't want to be standing outside today or tomorrow in the subzero windchill temps....full service gas stations of yesteryears would be nice in this kind of weather.


----------



## engineergurl (Jan 7, 2015)

snickerd3 said:


> filled up at $1.89 yesterday even though i could have waited. I didn't want to be standing outside today or tomorrow in the subzero windchill temps....full service gas stations of yesteryears would be nice in this kind of weather.




of yesteryears??? they still exist!


----------



## Supe (Jan 7, 2015)

$2.19 at one of the more expensive stations, which means that it should be under $2 if I cross into South Carolina. Need to go ahead and fill up the truck finally.


----------



## Ble_PE (Jan 7, 2015)

Depending on where you go across the border, you'll pay between $1.85-1.90. It's nice filling up for less than $20.


----------



## NJmike PE (Jan 10, 2015)

$1.97 at a full service station.

I can't remember the last thyme it cost me under $35 to fill up.


----------



## P-E (Jan 10, 2015)

One station here was at 1.99 Cars in long lines to save $5.00. Not worth it.


----------



## NJmike PE (Jan 10, 2015)

power-engineer said:


> One station here was at 1.99 Cars in long lines to save $5.00 be able to buy an extra 6-pack of beer. Not Totally worth it.


fixt

:beerchug:


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 10, 2015)

filled up at $1.86 yesterday


----------



## Dleg (Jan 11, 2015)

We're down to a whopping $3.91 here....


----------



## Flyer_PE (Jan 11, 2015)

After a few days of having cheaper gas here than on the WI side of the Cheddar Curtain, all is back to normal. Filled up for $1.95 North of the border. It's running around $2.15 here right now.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 12, 2015)

so we had some meetings with local / regional oil &amp; gas folks on a transportation project. What they are saying is that the majority of the medium sized US firms had per barrel prices locked in for 2015 and that this will probably effect a lot of the smaller operations but that none of the medium to larger (US) firms had any major reductions planned. It was interesting that most all of them said they had been going balls to the wall work wise for the last decade or more and any slow down would be beneficial to the fracking industry to do maintenance and other system upgrades. They did say they were a little afraid of the Saudi's ability to pull oil at $25 / barrel that they couldn't go that low and still keep the doors open..

Hoping the US technology can keep moving and help fracking which will help the US oil and gas companies get through this!


----------



## Dark Knight (Jan 12, 2015)

It is still $2.20 as an average here in the South.


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 14, 2015)

filled up at $1.74 this morning


----------



## roadwreck (Jan 14, 2015)

The price was down to $1.99 gallon on my commute this morning. Filled up last week at $2.08 a gallon. It only cost me $16.42 to fill up.


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 14, 2015)

$1.94 for premium this morning.


----------



## P-E (Jan 14, 2015)

NJmike PE said:


> power-engineer said:
> 
> 
> > One station here was at 1.99 Cars in long lines to save $5.00 be able to buy an extra 6-pack of beer. Not Totally worth it.
> ...


Maybe if I were drinking from that six pack while waiting in line. Sure.


----------



## Master slacker (Jan 14, 2015)

Gas at Sam's _last week_ was $1.64. Five islands and cars backed up about 8 deep. I don't even have a Sam's card, but still, no thanks.


----------



## engineergurl (Jan 15, 2015)

I actually had $1.10/gal off for my grocery card this week so I was a HAPPY girl... anytime you can get gas for less than a $1 is more than nice


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 15, 2015)

1.74 yesterday morning, 1.99 this morning


----------



## FLBuff PE (Jan 15, 2015)

$1.97 this morning to fill up, $31 even.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 15, 2015)

whats nice is that the IRS mileage rate is still .52/mile or something like that...


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 15, 2015)

Road Guy said:


> whats nice is that the IRS mileage rate is still .52/mile or something like that...


57.5 cents actually


----------



## knight1fox3 (Jan 15, 2015)

snickerd3 said:


> Road Guy said:
> 
> 
> > whats nice is that the IRS mileage rate is still .52/mile or something like that...
> ...


Ya I was just going to say I thought it was up to $0.58. Which reminds me, need to do my mileage expense report from last week.


----------



## snickerd3 (Jan 15, 2015)

knight1fox3 said:


> snickerd3 said:
> 
> 
> > Road Guy said:
> ...


it is the one federal reimbursement rate the state honors.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 30, 2015)

So we figured out a way to get gas for just under a dollar about every time we fill up..

If you have a Kroger/King Sooper/City market/etc near you. Kroger gives you double the fuel points when you buy gift cards in their stores. So what we have started doing is buying gift cards for things we buy anyways. Say were going to movie (family of 5 that’s $70 bucks for us) so before we go we stop by Kroger and buy the AMC movie gift card and use. We don’t eat out much but if we do we have started doing the same thing. There are endless possibilities for gift cards these days

It takes some planning and is a hassle some times but holy smokes my fuel costs are back to 1989 rates…

We learned this when we bought a bunch of gift cards for family at Christmas and then realized we were getting 1 off gas…


----------



## engineergurl (Jan 30, 2015)

Road Guy said:


> So we figured out a way to get gas for just under a dollar about every time we fill up..
> 
> If you have a Kroger/King Sooper/City market/etc near you. Kroger gives you double the fuel points when you buy gift cards in their stores. So what we have started doing is buying gift cards for things we buy anyways. Say were going to movie (family of 5 that’s $70 bucks for us) so before we go we stop by Kroger and buy the AMC movie gift card and use. We don’t eat out much but if we do we have started doing the same thing. There are endless possibilities for gift cards these days
> 
> ...




Kroger sells kroger gift cards... can you just go buy a kroger gift card to use to get your groceries and gas? (or King Sooper, which I'm still ticked that I didn't use my gas discount at when we were in Co)

I always forget I can get gas at Kroger and use my points because I typically do my grocery shopping at a different store.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 30, 2015)

yes we also use a Kroger gift card that is linked to our kids band account somehow - so we basically don't have to pay band dues since we get I think 1.5% credit for everything we buy. We have started using Kroger exclusively for groceries. They are even cheaper than walmart for most items (I did a nerdy spreadsheet based on the 3 grocery options we have (Kroger, Safeway, Wal Mart) Wal mart is good for cereal and a few items like milk, but I was shocked to learn that Kroger was cheaper &amp; a much nicer experience than being around walmart folks all day!

I think you can even buy wal mart gift cards at Kroger.


----------



## Ble_PE (Jan 30, 2015)

Yea, but then you don't get to see the eye candy like this:


----------



## NJmike PE (Jan 30, 2015)




----------



## jeb6294 (Jan 30, 2015)

Road Guy said:


> So we figured out a way to get gas for just under a dollar about every time we fill up..
> 
> If you have a Kroger/King Sooper/City market/etc near you. Kroger gives you double the fuel points when you buy gift cards in their stores. So what we have started doing is buying gift cards for things we buy anyways. Say were going to movie (family of 5 that’s $70 bucks for us) so before we go we stop by Kroger and buy the AMC movie gift card and use. We don’t eat out much but if we do we have started doing the same thing. There are endless possibilities for gift cards these days
> 
> ...


I'm not sure how it is where you are, but every once in a while the Kroger's around here will do bonus points....4x points for (most) gift cards. Sometimes it's for a week or two, sometimes a weekend, sometimes it's just on a certain day. I filled up my full size, 26 gallon truck for less than $30 the other day.



engineergurl said:


> Kroger sells kroger gift cards... can you just go buy a kroger gift card to use to get your groceries and gas? (or King Sooper, which I'm still ticked that I didn't use my gas discount at when we were in Co)
> 
> I always forget I can get gas at Kroger and use my points because I typically do my grocery shopping at a different store.


Apparently Kroger thought of that already. Doesn't work on Kroger cards or pre-paid credit cards. Can't really blame them. If you think about it, you could go in and buy a $100 Kroger gift card and then turn around and use that gift card to buy another $100 gift card. Do that a few times and you'd have $1 off gas for months and still have a $100 gift card to get groceries.


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 30, 2015)

Our cubscout pack sells Kroger cards for a fundraiser. They get 5% of everything bought with it, and it's a re-fillable gift card. Alot of the moms bought one, then refill it each time they go shopping, every time giving the pack another 5% without costing any more.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 30, 2015)

yes your right you cant get double the credit for buying the gift card and when you spend it.

We love the script card for band, our scout troop does it also but we max out one kid activity since band is $$$$ and scouts is $ !!


----------



## roadwreck (Jan 30, 2015)

This conversation reminds me of when the US mint started "selling" the state commemorative quarters. Apparently initially there were no additional charges (taxes, shipping, etc.) to buying the coins, so $10 worth of quarters cost you $10. Makes sense, but people were using this to rack up rewards on their credit cards. The idea being that you bought $500 worth of quarters then turned right around and deposited them back into your account so you essentially spent nothing but you "made" money by cashing out your credit card rewards. To me it seemed like a lot of work to make a few bucks and the effort of having to drag rolls and rolls of quarters to the bank all the time to make 1% on your credit card cash back program seemed a little absurd.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 30, 2015)

Yes I wouldn't drag quarters to the bank for that.

We do leverage big purchases on our regular cards to get the reward though...


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 30, 2015)

I have several of my bills automatically paid on a credit card, then I pay the credit card off. Automatic 5% discount on my regular bills.


----------



## P-E (Jan 30, 2015)

Road Guy said:


> Yes I wouldn't drag quarters to the bank for that.
> 
> We do leverage big purchases on our regular cards to get the reward though...


Here in Boston seems like you can never have enough quarters for parking. I'd use them all in the meters


----------



## roadwreck (Jan 30, 2015)

Road Guy said:


> Yes I wouldn't drag quarters to the bank for that.


If you go to the bank on a regular basis anyway I could see it being worthwhile, but I can't remember the last time I actually stepped foot in an actual bank branch, so the time I spent making the detour to a bank to deposit the coins would totally negate the money I'd be earning from my credit card rewards.

But back on topic, I filled up my car earlier this week for $15.04.


----------



## Road Guy (Jan 30, 2015)

I am getting at just over $22 / tank filling up a 18 gallon Tahoe using my above mentioned shenanigans

our kids band dues are $500/year (on top of the $100,000/year the band makes scamming poor people with Bingo- in which I have to give up 5 Fridays a year) 

However - by loading our Kroger card before we go grocery shopping and for using it to buy gas my bill is 0.0 (I actually have a credit for next year) bad side is we spend $200/ week at grocery store- which we do anyways feeding our herd.. but its nice not to have to pay it and it is worth a little extra hassle.

yes you read that right, our kids HS band makes over $100,000 a year running a bingo every Friday night of the school year.. It is very sad to watch in all reality...


----------



## mudpuppy (Jan 31, 2015)

roadwreck said:


> This conversation reminds me of when the US mint started "selling" the state commemorative quarters. Apparently initially there were no additional charges (taxes, shipping, etc.) to buying the coins, so $10 worth of quarters cost you $10. Makes sense, but people were using this to rack up rewards on their credit cards. The idea being that you bought $500 worth of quarters then turned right around and deposited them back into your account so you essentially spent nothing but you "made" money by cashing out your credit card rewards. To me it seemed like a lot of work to make a few bucks and the effort of having to drag rolls and rolls of quarters to the bank all the time to make 1% on your credit card cash back program seemed a little absurd.


Probably not worth it for 1% cash back. But most airline and hotel branded credit cards give you perks for a certain amount of spend. A lot of people found it worthwhile to cycle $60k through a credit card to get free upgrades to first class or hotel suites. If you're on a plane every week it might be worthwhile.


----------

