By: Las Vegas Now Staff
The price for gas hit another record high Friday – $3.28 a gallon. And that has drivers fuming at the pumps.
This is the time of year when more people take to the road. That high demand for gas means consumers wont get any relief from the skyrocketing prices until the end of summer. And while you may think the gas stations are cashing in big on your gas pains — think again.
Almost just as fast as the numbers roll over down on a gas pump, they are changing up on the gas station sign as well.
“Now it's $3.21; in the morning it's going to be $3.25,” said Bruce Stevenson, a driver. He is feeling the squeeze at the pump. And it's pinching every penny from his checkbook.
“It only costs $30 to fill it up; now it costs like $45 to almost $50,” he said.
As more Americans take summer road trips, the price at the pump will keep rolling up as well. But how high is the question drivers are asking.
“Will we get to August before we get to $4 is the real question,” said Michael Geeser, AAA Nevada.
Costly crude isn't only hurting the consumer, it's hurting gas station owners too. One gas station — running on empty. They couldn't afford to pay to put the fuel in the ground. The retailers don't make much profit.
In fact, on average they only make seven to 10 cents on every gallon sold according to AAA.
“Who's pocketing the other money?” asked Stevenson.
The answer to why you pay so much comes down to math.
Nevada pays the seventh highest gas tax in the country. The federal government take 18 cents right off the top. Another 18 cents goes to the state. Then add in the county's 15-cent share and you are paying $53 cents in gas tax alone.
Then add in the cost of refining and transporting the gas to the stations.
“You are talking about a lot of money before anything else happens,” said Geeser.
“The oil company – they are making the profits,” said Stevenson.
Drivers like Stevenson are calling on oil companies to ease the squeeze he feels at the pump.
“Help the American people out,” said Stevenson.
We can't control the price of gas but there are simple things you can do save on gas. Maintenance of our cars, taking it to the shop to make sure all of your belts, fluids and hoses are ready to go and tires property inflated are just some things that will help increase gas mileage.
Email your comments to Reporter Trevell Eiland.
Honestly, people need to quit whining. If you can’t afford to pay for gas, then stop driving. If you can’t afford another $10 or $15 for gas, then maybe you shouldn’t even own a car.
We, as Americans, are both greedy and cheap. We want to make a lot of money, but we don’t want to buy expensive stuff. This is why buying American is so expensive, and why jobs are out sourced to other countries. We reap what we sow, and this is the result. So shut up and deal with it.
Comment by Abernathy Lee — March 14, 2008 @ 11:14 pm
There has got to be a way American Citizens can fight back with all this constant gouging with fuel prices. We just roll over and take it consistantly! We need to stop going to the major gas stations..Mobile, Shell etc. Hopefully hitting the major gas corporations in the pocketbook will get them to pull back on the reins and reduce their price per gallon, in turn all the other gasoline suppliers to lower their prices. Lets do something about this!!!
Comment by Dori — March 15, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
It’s hard to be sympathetic with Americans who complain about expensive gasoline. This country has known for 35 years, since the first gas crisis, that it was time to get serious about developing sources of energy besides foreign oil. We’ve done nothing. Nevada voted for BushCheney twice, knowing full well these politicians were totally in the pockets of Big Oil. I ride my bike almost every day around Las Vegas, and I see hardly any other riders. Gas will be $4 a gallon, and higher, and America is totally unprepared. All we know is GO BOMB any country that has oil.
Comment by RussBBinVegas@aol.com — March 15, 2008 @ 6:38 pm
Gas costs what it costs, all we can do is make sure its a competative market and open to imported gas.
Comment by Jay Jay — March 15, 2008 @ 10:53 pm
most Americans don’t know even if gas prices hit $4/gallon, we’re still paying less than other countries. But on the other side, it doesn’t make the prices justified…
How many big oil companies will report $12 BILLON profits next quarter after they report excuses and reasons behind the “need” to jack prices up so high?
Comment by vegasj — March 15, 2008 @ 11:42 pm
Hi all, as a resident of the UK and a regular visitor to Las Vegas, you dont know how lucky you are with your gas price of $3.28, ours here in the UK is $10 and $7.50 of that is TAX
Please all you guys and gals shed a tear for me
lol Ronx
Comment by Ron — March 16, 2008 @ 3:37 am
Nevada helps to put two oil men in the white house for eight years and you wonder why gas is high.GO FIGURE
Comment by dennis g. — March 16, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Ohh, $3,28!!… In Sweden (where i live) its $9 and i find it really hard to belive that its cheaper than $7 anywhere in europe.
Comment by Roger — March 16, 2008 @ 10:48 am
Are any of you folks reading what these Europeans are blogging on here?? And the USA is probably one of only two Countries in the World running Escalades SUVs` and Hummers and RVs on a regular basis that we have here,..
I`m sure there are alot of other Countries near and afar really shedding tears for America having to pay 3.28 at the pumps,..please…..
Comment by Dave — March 16, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
The state and casino owners may want to look at ways to lower the Nevada gas tax (article says that Nevada pays the seventh highest gas tax in the country) to keep the tourists coming to Nevada and the other costs reasonable for them to buy products and services in our state. The higher gas prices are going to start (if not already) affecting the Nevada tourism market which will affect our job market.
Comment by Diana — March 17, 2008 @ 7:30 am
maybe our inept congress can start allowing us to use our own resources and stop importing oil from hostile regions of the world?
every summer our gas goes up because we don’t have enough refinery capacity…again, our inept congress is in bed with the environmentalists who will not allow us to build new refineries. We need more refinery capacity.
just a few novel ideas.
Comment by craig — March 19, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
I don’t know what you guys are paying for
gasoline…. but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per
gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here
are some tricks to get more of your money’s worth for every
gallon..
Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose ,
CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.
One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium
grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000
gallons.
Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning
when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations
have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more
dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the
afternoon or in the evening….your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the
petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline,
diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important
role.
A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business.
But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the
pumps.
When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle
to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages:
low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed,
thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All
hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate,
some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being
sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you’re getting less
worth for your money.
One of the most important tips is to fill up when
your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas
you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline
evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an
internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and
the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here
where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that
every gallon is actually the exact amount.
Another reminder, if there
is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas,
DO NOT fill up–most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is
being delivered, and you might pick up some f the dirt that normally settles
on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.
DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!
WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS
VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON
Gas rationing in the 80’s worked even
though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are
boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.
An interesting
thought is to boycott their GAS.
Every time you fill up the car, you
can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from
gas companies that don’t import their oil from the Saudis.
Nothing is
more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am
sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my
friends.
I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil
companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle
Eastern oil.
These companies import Middle Eastern
oil:
Shell……………………… 205,742,000
barrels
Chevron/Texaco……… 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon
/Mobil…………… 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway…
117,740,000 barrels
Amoco……………………….62,231,000
barrels
Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates
Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18
BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel
Here are some large companies
that do not import Middle Eastern oil:
Sunoco………………0
barrels
Conoco………………0
barrels
Sinclair……………..0 barrels
B
P/Phillips…………0 barrels
Hess…………………..0
barrels
ARC0………………..0 barrels
If you go to
Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations near you.
All
of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is
required to state where they get their oil and how much they are
importing.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions
of gas
buyers. It’s really simple to do.
Now, don’t wimp out at
this point…. keep reading and I’ll explain how simple it is to reach
millions of people!!
I’m sending this note to about thirty people. If
each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)…and those 300 send
it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the
message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over
THREE MILLION consumers !!!!!!! If those three million get excited and pass
this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!
If it goes one level further, you guessed it ….. THREE HUND RED
MILLION PEOPLE!!!
Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people.
How long would all that take?
Comment by Allen Burke — March 23, 2008 @ 10:18 pm