Can someone explain to me what the F%@$ is going on w/ diesel prices?

[In2cruisers]

I just came from the pumps....we are in San Diego so we already get the screw, but...


Reg. Unleaded $3.09
med.Unleaded $3.19
Sup.Unleaded $3.29
DIESEL $3.47

It is my understanding that diesel does not take as much effort to make than reg. unleaded, and I know it cant take as much refining as super unleaded so why the hell is it costing almost 20c a gallon more?

True I am getting more than twice the milage from the 2H than I did the 2F so I am still in the black but.........BUT THERE SCREWING US ALL !!!! Everything from a box of jello to a big screen TV is going to cost us ALL more. This all comes to us by truck... So the bastard oil Co.s get there money and drive our cost of living thru the roof.

[crushers]

yep, nothing you can do about it...

chatting with a neighbour that was bitching about the same thing...told if he didn't like the prices he could walk or ride a bike...end of conversation.

[nuclearlemon]

are you talking about crappy high prices, or the fact that diesel is higher than gas?

if it's any consolation, it's higher than gas here too. cheap gas is about $2.79, diesel is $3.09

[canucksafari]

I suspect it is because of the futureds market with winter heating oil. I am no economist but is seems to come up every winter as the reason. If the winter - especially in the Eastern US and Canada - turns out warmer than expected then the price of diesel drops. This spring and summer I was laughing at all the gassers filling up for 1.10 or more per L and me getting diesel for .82-.93 per L. Its just supply, demand and speculation.

[brownbear]

diesel is always cheaper than gas in most canadian spots.

I feel it is big oil trying prevent you from wanting diesel cars. They want to keep the gallon demand high with gassers.

Get a greasel kit. About 1k. Pays it self off in about 10 tanks of fuel. Also better for the environment.

[In2cruisers]

Originally Posted by brownbear

Get a greasel kit. About 1k. Pays it self off in about 10 tanks of fuel. Also better for the environment.

Greasel kit ???

[brownbear]

Originally Posted by In2cruisers

Greasel kit ???

I said greasel, but ment greasecar.

http://www.greasecar.com/

They seem like nice fellows. I will probably order my kit from them.

Well select items cause I like building things diy anyhow.

[roscoFJ73]

Poor bastards. Im paying the equivalent of $4.59USD for a US gallon or a $1.32 AUD a litre

[cruiser_guy]

There's fewer diesel drivers in the voting public so the governments in Canada and the USA can screw us, the diesel drivers, and not worry about electability. In Europe which has a similar climate to us in North America but a MUCH higher diesel private vehicle count has cheaper diesel because if the government tried to over tax diesel there they wouldn't last.

I don't buy the heating oil argument nor do I buy the argument that diesel stocks are going to gasoline.

It's simply over taxation on the part of governments and profit taking on the part of the oil companies.

[canucksafari]

It did the same price thing last year. And considering what the rest of the world has to pay, I am not complaining too much. Sorry Rosco. On average it is still a lot cheaper than gas. That 40 cents a litre spread between diesel and gas last spring was killing my wife in her gasser. Trust me, the price of diesel is more than just an attempt to get us diesel fanatics into gassers. Quite frankly compared to other users - like the truckers, farmers or heavy industry - personal use diesel owners are of little consequence.

[HZJ60 Guy]

I cant speak for everyone, but here in Warshington state it's simply because the commie government in Olympia set road taxes much higher on diesel than on other fuels. That accounts for the difference in diesel prices in comparrison to gasser prices. Doesnt matter, my TDI Jetta gets 60+ mpg. I dont care how much fuel costs.... Sorry for you buggers who dont have that luxury......

[M John Galt]

US fuel prices are increasing because the value of the US dollar is dropping in relation to almost all the other currencies in the world.

It's dropping because of the billions of dollars of trade deficit the US has every day. The US buys more stuff than it sells, so the country is basically running in debt to the communist Chinese. They're the ones footing the bill for the US spending more than it makes.

Americans are screwing themselves when they continue to buy cheap import goods instead of stuff made by other Americans.

Diesel fuel prices in Canada have been steady for the past year or so. Canada has a positive balance of trade.

[HZJ60 Guy]

Originally Posted by M John Galt

US fuel prices are increasing because the value of the US dollar is dropping in relation to almost all the other currencies in the world.

It's dropping because of the billions of dollars of trade deficit the US has every day. The US buys more stuff than it sells, so the country is basically running in debt to the communist Chinese. They're the ones footing the bill for the US spending more than it makes.

You're screwing yourselves because you continue to buy cheap import goods instead of stuff made by your neighbors, so that they could live as well as you do.

Diesel fuel prices in Canada have been steady for the past year or so. Canada has a positive balance of trade.

Pretty simple economics. Of course there is much more to it than that, but that does sum things up.

[83bj60]

Originally Posted by cruiser_guy

I don't buy the heating oil argument nor do I buy the argument that diesel stocks are going to gasoline.

I hold this from my brother in law, who has worked for Big Oil for several decades now as a refinery chemist and now as manager. I could ask what the exact process is.

[jinzuke]

You should burn veggie oil If you don't want to buy diesel. But I think it would be alot more $ per L. The big question Is not that gas is cheaper then Diesel But why are all the oil companys making millions of $$$$ and we get Pumped at the pumps.

[cruiser_guy]

Originally Posted by M John Galt

US fuel prices are increasing because the value of the US dollar is dropping in relation to almost all the other currencies in the world.

Diesel fuel prices in Canada have been steady for the past year or so. Canada has a positive balance of trade.

This doesn't explain why diesel is more than gasoline when it should be a less expensive product.

[83bj60]

Originally Posted by rick_d

I learned in Organic Chemistry (I got A's both semesters) that diesel comes off the cracking tower lower (ie easier) than gasoline (leaded vs unleaded etc). So, in reality it is a cheaper product.

Oil companies and oil commodities traders are just screwing us.

btw, diesel in Mexico @ Pemex is under $2.00 per US gallon.

Are you sure you remember your Chemistry correctly? May have been quite a while ago, hehe

Cracking is different from distilling. Cracking actually breaks down the base stock into smaller mollecules, distilling is simply separating them from the mix.

Now that you mentioned it, I'm quite sure this is at least one of the processes my brother in law said they used to create gasoline and he explained that they were forced to transform a ever increasing portion of the base crude into gasoline because of demand, which results in increased diesel and fuel oil scarcity hence higher prices for those fuels.

Yep, you can blame it on the gas guzzlers, the soccer moms in the SUVs and the multi car families.

[83bj60]

Originally Posted by cruiser_guy

This doesn't explain why diesel is more than gasoline when it should be a less expensive product.

I could ask my brother in law again, he's quite knowledgeable and knows not only his chemistry, but also knows a lot about market conditions, because he actually manufactures the stuff , but I'm pretty sure the reasons I stated before still reflect the present situation with reasonable accuracy.

[OffRoadRunner]

Hi guys/gals

I was under the impression that diesel was more expensive 'now' compared to gas is mainly due to supply and demand, whereas historically it was always cheaper than gas (well at least here in oz)

Yeah diesel is cheaper to refine than gas (im pretty sure its a by-product of producing petrol)... or something to that effect

But due to the fact China's economy is just going crazy, and they use diesel for power generation (along with a lot of our aussie coal) it has increased demand.. hence higher prices..
this..along with the points raised above which all contribute.. such as US dollar, oil companies making $$$ etc..

It totally sucks ass IMO, diesel should be cheaper.. I also wish I were a farmer and get a diesel rebate from the gov.

cheers Iain

[canucksafari]

Soon the solution will be more turkey. Really, the technology is there and being used to make diesel out of waste from a turkey processing plant and other materials which have complex carbon chains: http://discovermagazine.com/2006/apr/anything-oil.

That said, No 2 diesel is used for diesel engines and home heating. And demand for it has gone up. No 4 diesel is used for industrial heating and in some cases power generation. Power generation is usually fired by crude oil or coal.

Google is my friend ...

[brownbear]

supply and demand is probably why in certain jurisdictions the prices are more. But I do think fear and panic are pushing the prices up.

A good example is the low prices here(103.00 a litre) just over a buck. But a barrel is around 93 right now.

They say the demand is low for gas. Not sure how it works myself. But oil is at an all time high, yet the price per litre is livable. I say its livable and I own a 3fe cruiser.....doh!

[Dougal]

Originally Posted by M John Galt

The US buys more stuff than it sells, so the country is basically running in debt to the communist Chinese.

I think the communist Chinese lost out to the capitalist Chinese some time ago.

The "US and Canada Heating Oil" line was sprung this time two years ago, even on the other side of the world it affects us. Having oil traded in US dollars ties us all in pretty heavily.
Saddam tried to trade oil in other currencies, look what happened to him.

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by 83bj60

I hold this from my brother in law, who has worked for Big Oil for several decades now as a refinery chemist and now as manager. I could ask what the exact process is.

The local oil companies here tell us they dont really know how much petrol cost to produce because that is what they have left when everything else has been taken out.
Might have been true in 1905 when they were still burning petrol in pits to get rid of it but now it sounds like BS

Originally Posted by Dougal

I think the communist Chinese lost out to the capitalist Chinese some time ago.

True ,the chinese are best described as state owned capitalism Deng Xiaoping as good as said that in his final address to the party congress when it became clear they were the only ones left after the fall of the USSR and competition with capitalism would be the only way for the PRC to survive
Thus they unleashed their juggernaut

[denis]

Originally Posted by In2cruisers

Reg. Unleaded $3.09
med.Unleaded $3.19
Sup.Unleaded $3.29
DIESEL $3.47

$3.09/gal = $0.81/L = $1.08/kg gas @ 750g/L
$3.47/gal = $0.92/L = $1.08/kg diesel @ 850g/L

[denis]

Originally Posted by rick_d

I learned in Organic Chemistry (I got A's both semesters) that diesel comes off the cracking tower lower (ie easier) than gasoline (leaded vs unleaded etc). So, in reality it is a cheaper product.

nope, it's not cheaper because your're not distillating one product but all of them, hence they all share the price of distillation process evenly.
distillating up to just above diesel only would be a huge waste of money because all the $$$ spirits are ontop, so technically if you were distillating just to get diesel the end product may cost about 5 times as much ?!

[HZJ60 Guy]

B99 is running me 3.30 now a day here at home...