Tell me, I’m not the only one who pays no attention to gasoline prices. When somebody asks me what gasoline costs in my part of town, I tell them I have no idea and they look at me like I have three heads. The way I see it, whatever the price is, you’re going to pay it, and I refuse to drive around and chase a savings of 6-10¢/gallon.

I only check one thing.

What is the price spread between 87 Octane and 93 Octane? I've seen it anywhere between an additional 60 and 120 cents.

Thinking that the 87 Octane is a baseline price, the other two are not. Got a good hunch that the 120 cent mark up is a place I'd rather not go to.

But .. but $0.06 / gallon cheaper will save me $1.20 on a 20 gallon tank. I have to be able to pay my bills too! So I’ll drive to the neighboring town to take full advantage!

Gasoline is a fungible commodity traded on NYMEX. The summer time (i.e. peak gasoline usage season) quote I look at is RBOB for historical and future prices. Its displayed price is per gallon without transportation costs, storage costs, and taxes.

What can a Sigforumite do:

use an app or website such as GasBuddy to make educated decision when filling up. The only difference between fungible gasoline is the additive package (essentially "Top Tier" vs generic). Use the brand filters to display the cheapest "Top Tier" gasoline or diesel. It's not worth driving out of your way for a penny a gallon, but I'm currently seeing $0.20 per gallon difference between top tiers in my area and occasionally I see $0.30 per gallon spread.

if you really have a strong opinion of gasoline prices being higher or lower than current future prices you can make an investment since it is a commodity traded on NYMEX. Going long means you're betting on it being higher and going short means you're betting on it being lower. Near as I can tell, no Sigforumite went long on gasoline futures in Spring or Summer '22 and missed out on a windfall since the futures price was consistently wrong.

Spring Gasoline Prices:
The main regulation that impacts pricing every spring is that by June 1 every gas station must be selling low Reid Vapor Pressure gasoline (RBOB). Switching over tank by tank at refineries, storage facilities, distribution terminals, etc. is due by May 1st which means it starts weeks earlier. Nobody is going to put CBOB in a tank already turned over to RBOB so essentially this regulation creates an artificial inventory problem which drives up prices temporarily.

DISCLOSURES:

My employer sells gasoline, and I am prohibited from buying or selling refined product, crude oil, or natural gas futures.

I'm not an investment advisor.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
I only check one thing.

What is the price spread between 87 Octane and 93 Octane? I've seen it anywhere between an additional 60 and 120 cents.

Thinking that the 87 Octane is a baseline price, the other two are not. Got a good hunch that the 120 cent mark up is a place I'd rather not go to.

It’s a 30 cent difference at both BJs and Sam’s Club near me. Since BJs has diesel 45 cents lower than anywhere else, I go there, fill up the truck, two 5 gallon diesel cans and four 5 gallon gas cans. That saves me $36 each time and a trip with my wife’s car. Plus I use my Sam’s Club card which gives me a 5% rebate on fuel purchases.

I'm pretty much the same but I try and use Top Tier gas which usually means I fill up at Costco.

My notion os gas prices is more driving by stations and noting the posted price rather than everyday fill-ups. I did remark to the chauffeur today that it seemed like prices are on the rise again, she agreed with my assessment. Thank you FJB!

quote:

Tell me, I’m not the only one who pays no attention to gasoline prices

I guess it depends on how much gas you use, huh?

quote:

Originally posted by 400m:
The way I see it, whatever the price is, you’re going to pay it, and I refuse to drive around and chase a savings of 6-10¢/gallon.

This is one thing.

quote:

Tell me, I’m not the only one who pays no attention to gasoline prices.

This is something else entirely.

Of course I pay attention to gas prices. I imagine you do, too.

You need to balance distance and price...each person has their number depending on their vehicle. To flippantly think that gasoline prices are trivial or, not worth paying attention to, must be a luxury.

I buy at the same station every time which is always the cheapest. My wife can tell you the price of every station within 10 miles of our house.

I haven't paid attention to what it costs in many years. Since I know I'm getting it cheaper than any other station around I don't even concern myself with what it actually costs.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
You need to balance distance and price...each person has their number depending on their vehicle. To flippantly think that gasoline prices are trivial or, not worth paying attention to, must be a luxury.

Obviously, plus what para and 1s1k said above. For me I only buy it at Costco, it's top tier and either the cheapest around or within a penny.

Do I pay attention? No. I notice when it breaks $5 or $10 increments to fill up the tank ie $50 something to $60 something, etc.

Same here.
Don’t care. I fill up at particular stations using only top tier fuel and never BP.
I don’t look for the sign and don’t look at the final cost.
I get a receipt and tuck it in my door in the very unlikely event I were to get bad gas.

Yep, I'm close to a Costco, so pretty much always fill up there and it tends to be the cheapest.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
I'm pretty much the same but I try and use Top Tier gas which usually means I fill up at Costco.

I no longer fill up a full tank of gas like I always did. Gas prices have been like a bouncing ball for well over a year. Down 20 cents one day and up 20 cents another. I don’t know if the day I fill up then it will go up or down within a few days so I just don’t fill up all the way.

Every gas pump should have those stickers with Biden, Harris, and Peloci saying they did that.

There's a chain of grocery stores here in California called "Safeway." Some of them sell gasoline, and they have the best prices anywhere. At the Safeway I frequent, there's a Shell gas station across the street.

Safeway: $3.79
Shell: $4.79

I know that the local station in town is about a nickel more than the station 8 miles away, and the gas down in the valley by my kids' house is another 10 cents cheaper (but 35 miles further away). I could probably tell you within 20 cents what the local price is, maybe.

It isn't worth the miles on the car to go to the cheaper stations just for the gas. But I do keep in mind my expected travel plans and will fill up with the cheaper gas when practical.

Always a top-tier brand.

I prefer no-ethanol when I can get it for a reasonable price, but usually the price difference is much greater than the added mpg.

The gas station near my house regularly has 87 at 60 to 80 cents a gallon higher than the Costco that is 3-5 minutes away. I get empty-ish before I fill up.

A fill up easily gets to 25 gallons, even had a couple get over 30 in a 32 gallon tank.

If it's a Jackson I am saving on a single fill up, I will go the extra distance, or even better try to plan my purchase when I am heading that direction to begin with.

Sorry, but you are paying attention to gas prices, even if you pretend you're not.

I pay attention. When gas hit $5 a gallon, I switched my dashboard readout from Range to economy indicator. I accelerate only to where it's about to go outside of economy. I still drive like that now.

It's $3.20 a gallon now but that's 50% more than what I paid when the US was a net petroleum energy producer.