Gas Prices

threepeckeredbillygoat's Avatar
Take your chances and run "red" diesel fuel.Save .44 cents in TX and risk jail. Originally Posted by RandB fan
And void all warranty when you take it in and and they find out you have ran it. And they will find out.
  • jwood
  • 12-13-2014, 07:17 PM
Take your chances and run "red" diesel fuel.Save .44 cents in TX and risk jail. Originally Posted by RandB fan
I have to buy both. Not going to chance it. Heard they have some way to tell from the exhaust if it's red.
Chung Tran's Avatar
are you enjoying the returns on your 401k this year? enjoying lower gas prices?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-1...e-decline.html

be worried... lower prices are good, up to a point... OPEC is trying to starve its competitors, and it's working.. your 401k is down several percentage points since Friday, and financial contagion will spread around the World.. if the US has to raise interest rates by even half a percentage point... be worried.
TexTushHog's Avatar
If gas was $5 a gallon everyone would complain, Originally Posted by Trill Jackson
Not me. That would mean that oil was back at $150/bbl. and my royalty checks and working interest checks would be almost three times what they are now. If I could just have one full year at $150/bbl. and $14/mcf, I'd never ask for anything else as long as I lived.
Not me. That would mean that oil was back at $150/bbl. and my royalty checks and working interest checks would be almost three times what they are now. If I could just have one full year at $150/bbl. and $14/mcf, I'd never ask for anything else as long as I lived. Originally Posted by TexTushHog
Ok we get it. You're laughing all the way to the bank when the hardworking middle class is choosing between having food on the table or having enough gas to get to work.

I for one, am ecstatic about lower gas prices during the holidays. It gives us middle class families a chance to squirl away some extra and start the new year with some savings.

Not saying your wrong, TTH but sometimes its better not to gloat about certain things. For instance, I would never walk into Cooks and start bragging about how healthy my kids are...js.
Chung Tran's Avatar
oil finished under $50 today, as the Dow Jones skidded 330 points... I'm afraid Texas will take a major hit this year.. our mini-boom the past 3 years or so, was on the tailwind of the oil success story... today is also the 102nd day in a row of falling gas prices (I just filled up at $1.68/gallon)...
sparrow1122's Avatar
Let's see what Putin does now!
Trill Jackson's Avatar
oil finished under $50 today, as the Dow Jones skidded 330 points... I'm afraid Texas will take a major hit this year.. our mini-boom the past 3 years or so, was on the tailwind of the oil success story... today is also the 102nd day in a row of falling gas prices (I just filled up at $1.68/gallon)... Originally Posted by Chung Tran
The majority of the citizens of Texas will not take a hit from gas prices, cheap gas will help 99% of Texans.
Grace Preston's Avatar
Trill-- you are correct in many ways.. but a lot of oilfield workers in Texas are going to find themselves laid off shortly.. approximately 100k workers to be exact. Which.. is also going to hit the ladies in West Texas HARD.
Chung Tran's Avatar
Trill-- you are correct in many ways.. but a lot of oilfield workers in Texas are going to find themselves laid off shortly.. approximately 100k workers to be exact. Which.. is also going to hit the ladies in West Texas HARD. Originally Posted by GracePreston
also going to hit State tax revenues... some of y'all are too young to remember, but we went through this in 1986.. falling oil prices, a mini-recession in Texas..
Trill Jackson's Avatar
Trill-- you are correct in many ways.. but a lot of oilfield workers in Texas are going to find themselves laid off shortly.. approximately 100k workers to be exact. Which.. is also going to hit the ladies in West Texas HARD. Originally Posted by GracePreston
Unfortunately yes, but we all know those are both industries that pay good money but are unstable, it's a risk Versus reward situation.

People make great money in the oil fields, but nothing, including the next day's work is guaranteed in that line of work for a reason.

An extremely small majority of workers will suffer financially for the majority of the state and country's gain.
TinMan's Avatar
Actually, it's 15% of state GDP, so it will impact more than a few folks.

That's not as big a number as in the 80s, thank God, so we shouldn't see a repeat of that debacle (particularly if it rebounds more quickly), but it's gonna sting a bit.
TexTushHog's Avatar
I saw a forecast that said falling oil prices would begin to undercut home prices in Texas within six months. And in my part of the State, it a lot more than 15% if GDP. We're already seeing layoffs and folks with less money to spend. I overheard twolocal car dealers talking at lunch about folks that trade in like clock work were not trading in because of falling royalty checks. Local newspaper was talking about the effect on next year's appraisals and the school district's budget. Also talk of the school distruct putting off a bond issue until prices go back up.
Grace Preston's Avatar
For me... I'm fortunate in that I am a more "budget friendly" oriented provider. If anything, the falling gas prices will help me because it will impact those who tend to gravitate to my type more than it will hurt. With the exception of Christmas week itself-- I had the busiest December I've had in years, thanks largely to the falling gas prices. But, there is a line where the downside will eventually kill the uptick.. that is the disadvantage of living in an oil rich and dependent state.

I vaguely remember the crash in the 1980's. The impact then was more than just oil workers being laid off... the ripple effect killed small businesses who relied on the oilfield workers, inflation skyrocketed, and interest rates shot through the roof. This crash won't be near as bad... the impact will be about 25% of what it was then, if you go by the numbers. But that is little comfort to those who live near the oilfields.
Ya the just below $2/gallon was nice for a brief minute but when it got below $1.80/gallon for over a week that's when I started to feel like things aren't right with this. I admittedly know nothing about the oil market but I do know that when the price of something like fuel drops significantly for too long its not good. Its went from "yay!!" to "no way!!" really quick.

We lost our home and had to file for bankruptcy in 2008 when my SO at the time got laid off. It was a string of events that came like a windfall but when they stopped drilling for oil he lost his job bc he had already been out for a major surgery. I feel for the oil workers right now a lot. Its a very scary situation to be in.