Odd that noone has posted this yet...

[KCALB SIRAY]

Originally Posted by BailOut

Hi H3LlIoN,

No one has posted that because the cheapest gas is almost never the best bang for your buck. To make a long and scientific story short, the gasoline brands are usually separated by no more than the mandated additives they use. The top tier oil companies spent billions of dollars in research and development to figure out how to make those additives combustible, meaning that they do not rob the underlying gasoline of power per volume, and also burn cleaner in your engine. The cheaper providers do no such thing, so not only does their gasoline not burn as cleanly (which can leave some nasty gunk behind) but it has less caloric content per gallon, meaning you don't go as far on a tank.

All of this means that while you may find a cheaper price at a pump you will most likely end up at another pump sooner, so you actually spend more money on cheaper fuel rather than save anything.

As to why the price of gasoline is going up right now, it is mostly due to the increasing demand in the U.S. (likely from children being back in school, and their parents insisting on shuttling them in their gargantuan SUVs).

Again, Brian assumes everyone outside his world drives a gargantuan SUV. Here is a list of cars that parents from my sons pre-school drives. I see them on a daily basis:

Toyota Yaris -- Me
Toyota Camry Hybrid -- Parent
Saturn Vue Hybrid -- Teacher
Toyota Yaris Sedan -- Parent
Honda Civic Hybrid -- Parent
Honda Accord -- Parent
Toyota Prius -- Parent
Toyota Prius -- Teacher

Just a short list of the ones I see on a daily basis. If your looking for more fun facts compared to the area I live in, here the zipcodes for the school and surrounding areas : 22066, 22102, 22101. I'm sure you'll find that they can afford the big SUV's and the gas in takes to run them.

Currently the gas around my house is $2.39 at the Shell. Costco is at $2.36 and so is Sheetz.