Business Insider had this post about Americans saving money at the gas pump. You can read the whole post here.
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Tag / Gasoline
Inflation Alert: Consumer Prices Edging Up
Prices on goods and services have hit 4 months in a row
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The Lunacy of America’s Ethanol Policy
Steve Milloy over at JunkScience.com reminds
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U.S. Healthcare Spending Has Risen
Dr. Ed Yardeni has put together a post showing the consumer has saved dollars YTD on gasoline prices, the savings is being eaten up by higher medical expenses.
Last week, I observed that while consumers are spending less of their budgets on gasoline, they are spending more on health care. The latest data through January show that the percentage of current-dollar consumption for gasoline plunged from last year’s high of 3.2% to 2.1% in January. Consumers saved $133 billion (saar) on gasoline over this period.
On the other hand, the percentage of their outlays for health care goods and services rose from last year’s low of 20.0% during March to 20.6% during January. I received lots of inquiries about this topic. Most readers want to know if this is attributable to Obamacare, which seems to have raised health insurance premiums, deductibles, and copays. I think so, but I don’t have the data to corroborate this conjecture.
Health care consumption includes spending paid for by both insurance and government programs, as well as out-of-pocket costs. Presumably and anecdotally, the latter have risen sharply. However, that wouldn’t necessarily bloat overall spending, though more out-of-pocket outlays would depress spending on other goods and services.
Oil Rig Production Drop Continues
Newly released data from Baker Hughes Inc. shows another 48 oil/natural gas rigs taken out of production. The count now stands at 1,310 still active. Down 461 rigs from this time last year.
Oil Rig Production Continues Plunge
Oil rig production continues its plunge and gas prices are starting to show that. Here is the latest data on oil rigs:
The number of active U.S. land rigs plunged by 98 this week in one of the biggest declines in the past three decades as fallen oil prices continued to pummel the industry’s drilling ambitions.
Baker Hughes’ 71-year-old U.S. rig count, one of the industry’s go-to indicators of future oil production and demand for rigs, was down by 406 drilling units compared to Feb. 13, 2014. The last time the rig count fell by 98 was in January, 2009 – the two declines are tied for the biggest drops since 1987.
H/T Fuel Fix
Oil Rig Production Drastically Drops
Gasoline prices are slowly rising which is correlating with oil rig production. Baker Hughes Inc. released data showing ninety four more oil rigs taken out of production.
RenewEconomy.com had this write up about the production of oil being shut off:
In just three months, the rig count has fallen by 24 per cent, or 389 from the all-time high of 1,609 recorded for the week of 10 October last year. As Mark Lewis, from Paris-based analysts Kepler Chevreux notes: “In all of the historical Baker Hughes data stretching back to July, 1987, there is no precedent for a drop of this speed or severity.”
Why Gas Prices Will Go Back Up Part II
In December I posted a blog about why gas prices will go back up and it received numerous hits. The content of that post is now playing out. Mark J. Perry just released some data of oil rigs being shutdown due to the drop in price of crude oil. Here is what he found:
US Oil Rigs Fell Last Week to 1,317, Down 292 and 18% from October Peak of 1,609
This is a quick reversal so I wouldn’t be surprised if 500 shutdowns happen before March. With production falling and the strength of the dollar in question, crude oil will eventually start rising.
Percent of Fuel Cost in Your Grocery Store Bill
With fuel prices dropping over the last several months, many shoppers are asking why food prices have not shown corresponding drops in prices. The asnwer may surprise you in how much fuel costs affect grocery store bills.
Annemarie Kuhns with the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service is reporting that only 4.7 cents of every dollar spent at the supermarket goes toward food transportation costs
So less than 5% of your bill is attributed to fuel costs.
Gasoline Taxes Paid by Consumers
Consumers of gasoline pay state/federal taxes when they purchase gas. The tax is per gallon. The federal tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents/gallon. State taxes vary greatly. The map below shows both state/federal. Just deduct the federal to see what you pay in each state.
Map courtesy of the American Petroleum Institute. Click here for their interactive map.
Hoosier Econ 