Posted by Marian_in_CA on 8/7/12 9:41am
Msg #429615

Speaking of gas prices.... look out, we're in for a ride

There was a massive refinery fire last night:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443792604577574043878837740.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The article said that this refinery is responsible for about 10% of the gas is the west.... so this means a pretty big hike in gas prices.

Start pricing your work accordingly... gas expenses (especially for those of us in the west) are going to go way, way up.

Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 8/7/12 9:58am
Msg #429618

I am not sure about that.

I used to live about 25 miles down the road from that refinery in the east bay. I will tell you that I don't understand why Phoenix area gas prices are so much lower than Bay area gas prices!

Reply by rengel/CA on 8/7/12 12:04pm
Msg #429634

Don't worry

I didn't notice any gas station price this morning, (forgot to look) but their usual MO when there is a refinery accident of any sort is to immediately, if not sooner, raise gas prices.

Their "justification" is that they don't know how long the refinery will be out of business so they don't know how this will effect their deliveries.

I throw the B.S. card on that! But it always happens.

My .02

Reply by Jayhawk/KS on 8/7/12 2:42pm
Msg #429668

Our prices jumped 10 cents since last night. Not a good sign!

Reply by SharonMN on 8/7/12 3:55pm
Msg #429677

Keep in mind your actual expenses. While gas hikes may seem painful, gas is only a small portion of our expenses. For example, if I take a signing 30 miles away and my car gets 35 mpg, I can easily complete the signing on 2 gallons of gas, or about $7.50 here in MN (I understand other states pay more!)

If I do the same signing but the worst happens and gas is now 50% more expensive at $5.63/gallon , it still only adds $3.75 to my expenses for the signing.

If I do the same signing in my pickup instead of my Toyota, I get 16 mph, so it might cost me $15 in gas at the lower rate and 22.50 at the higher rate (still only a $7.50 increase).

That being said, people seem to be more understanding of higher fuel rates, so if you've been wanting to raise your rates by $10 or so, now might be a good time!