How much is your local "Trump at the Pump Tax?"

I paid $3.89 to fill up the Prius....total was under $30 for the first time in a while...which was nice. I need to bring the Tundra down and get her filled up.

 

I've never lived in an area with any Speedways, so haven't personally experienced its random sawtooth effect on prices.

I'm not on X or FB, so don't see it there. But also don't see it spilling out anywhere it is visible to me.

But my area is also not a place where nearly all the gas station try to match some 'price leader'. Instead, stations here show a great diversity in prices, with some making use of convenient locations or perceptions of brand quality or other factors to charge higher prices, while some others do approximately compete on price, but not trying to match to the penny. Price spreads of $0.50/gallon over a short distance are normal, and differences of $1/gal within a couple blocks are not unheard of.

A phrase I recently learned is "demand destruction", as many previous users of an item permanently reduce or even quit their consumption of a product. Drivers shifting from gasoline to electric vehicles, and electric generation shifting from fossil fuels to renewable sources, are examples of demand destruction.

 

Market price of crude has more to do with comments made and feelings than actual supply.

AKA The us isnt actually paying the real and correct price for crude.

as you surmise once we have to try and zorch asphalt into diesel I expect a massive price wall broken and rationing.

your apparent belief that Ronald Reagan’s oil market was in any way positive, provided open access to oil (many nations are still out of oil despite the market), or that it properly compensated everyone without winners and losers (or without waste and fraud) is just as unfounded as your belief that the us export ban being lifted helped any normal person, improves energy access or improves energy independence.

What came before long ago involving The direct sale of oil without a market was sadly in many ways fairer to producers with much more opportunity than anything that came after including a unified oil market.
Unified is both easy and brutal and ensures everyone is enslaved to the market middlemen without the willpower or motivation to become energy independent.

 

can they produce in time to head off a major jump in prices?
exxon-may-acquire-rights-produce-oil-venezuela-new-york-times-reports-2026-05-21

 

The post you cite was 100% sarcasm.

My actual position on the distribution of domestic oil production is "it depends on conditions and should be adjusted to fit". If the world and US economy are functioning normally then I favor an open market - because favoring domestic consumption under those conditions is picking winners and losers, often by ideology and cronyism, and it always makes some sector of our economy less competitive (it becomes addicted to the subsidized oil prices and so doesn't spend enough on becoming more energy efficient). On the other hand, if the world and US economy are both melting down, and especially if it reaches the point where there are actual shortages domestically, then at that point a good argument can be made for keeping the delivery trucks rolling here even if it exacerbates supply issues elsewhere. That sort of nimble adjustment isn't something we do well, because politicians stick to their doctrine of choice without taking changing conditions into account. Doing otherwise is hazardous to their standing in their party, which will have a doctrine which is more or less etched in stone.

 

Thank you for your loyalty.

 

Maybe it will be our friend?

Depends on how fast the boats can deliver. Even then, the loss of SPR to the supply means some price increase.

 

If only we had the wisdom of the petunias...

 

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I don't work for "Speedway" (a 7-11 company now) I don't get paid by them, but I do get nice deals for being a loyal customer. This post is not any sales message for them.
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I don't know what if any kinda 45/47 Pump Tax is involved here. My point is, is that I got a 13¢/gal discount today. I use their Speedway card at the register for purchase points, and being that it's pay-first everywhere now I put the amount of $$$ I want on a "Fuel Only" card. This combination generally gets me 8¢ off/gal. It would be more if I used mid-grade or premium gas. Today I got a "Loyalty" email giving me another 5¢ off/gal. All-in-all ... like I said ... I got 13¢/gallon off today. I was only able to put 7+/- gallons in, which is a lot for having 2 bars on my gauge. OK ... +/- 95¢ ... BFD ... but still.

 

I will still bend over to pick up a dime (but not a penny), so I wouldn't turn it down, but at $6/gal that would only be a 2.2% discount, and the day to day fluctuation in the price is about the same size.

 

I did a road trip today and filled up at $3.55. Then 2 miles down the road was $3.45

 

That would be reality I'm guessing. The world is a wakeup to Trump's on again/off again war he's using to manipulate oil prices, the smart ones are moving to EV's and not being particularly effected by fluctuating oil prices. Heavy transport will move that way rapidly so they can become competitive again, those still relying on diesel will be kicked to the weeds .....
That will at least stabilise food prices for a bit, but those with their own house that can go off grid and grow their own vegies will be the real winners.
Perhaps the co-op housing groups will return, a group all throw in to buy a farm type block, work up a market garden to make money to pay off the block they have and then use that as collateral to buy another and so on .....

Once DJT has been delt with after the mid terms, you will still have Vance to decide if he needs to go the same way or not ..... One thing is for sure, the USA will never return to it's previous position at the top of the pile, making it one of the shortest run No.1 economy since they counted that sort of thing .... probably have to consult the cave painting to confirm that though ......

T1 Terry

 

I don't know why we are picking on Iran anyway. They are just an innocent mostly peaceful nation minding their own business who never bothers anyone.

 

They have been PO'd at us ever since we and the UK backed a coup that overthrew their democratically elected government and restored a dictatorial monarchy, 73 years ago.

We have been picking on them ever since they overthrew the dictator we imposed on them. Not that their 'new' government is any better than our dictatorship before it.

 

So you are defending Iran of the last 47 years. Thank you for clearing that up.

 

A couple grocery chains here have loyalty cards giving 'up to' $1.00/gal discount, based on your grocery purchases. For every $100 in purchases in a month, they give you a $0.10/gal discount through the following month, capped at a $1/gal discount, for a single gas purchase, maximum of 25 gallons. We have 'cheated' a couple times by refilling two cars at once on a single card swipe, but even that doesn't get us close to 25 gallons.

Both are commonly priced $0.10-0.20 above Costco, sometimes higher, wasting a bit of the discount. I deliberately let some months expire unused when we don't have enough points to cover the spread.

Just a 10¢ spread in 2 miles? We commonly have much larger spreads in just a couple blocks. Today I see a 70¢ difference between two stations literally across a side street and in very clear sight of each other, one a major brand, the other commonly considered a discount brand even though it is still Top Tier. The major brand station has the 'amenity' of a convenience store, the discount place does not.

Another major brand station at the intersection of two major arterials, is 90¢ higher than the Costco across the street (though hidden from view behind a major embankment). Though in such short distances, 20-50¢ spreads are more typical.

But even these higher priced stations are well below the stations next to the rental car returns adjacent to the primary airport.

 

Not defending, just disappointed that you have such a short memory, especially for our national sins against others.

And at your inability to understand what I actually wrote.

 

It’s easy, I am seeing the light. Eight years ago our leader cancelled the Iran deal to pick on Obama’s legacy. In 2026 our leader decided to pick on Iran to intimidate them for fun and pick on Obama’s legacy one more time by getting a big beautiful agreement. Irans leader stood up to our leader so our leader killed him. It had to happen to stop the nukes. I see the attraction of hitting the easy button and being loyal to our leader. We believe everything he says and it’s done. After all he was elected president for a reason. Now I patiently wait for his five dimensional chess thinking to blossom.

 

So...you support Iran too.

 

Not quite sure if there is a tongue planted in a cheek or not ......
Certainly got played regarding the killing of the old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He set himself up to be a martyr to strengthen his replacements hold on the people.
If they had taken out the one who was marked to replace him, his son Mojtaba Khamenei and left the old man alive, the path of father to son supreme leader would have been broken and further weakened their grip on the country ....
could have, should have, would have won't fix the damage that has been done, the clear lack of protection promised by the US to the other oil producers in the area destroyed the petrodollar scheme Henry Kissinger set up that supported the US $$ and allowed the country to live beyond it's means and run up insane nation debt figures.
Now the US can't even finance their renewal because with the collapse of the petrodollar, interest to buy govt bonds has to be much higher to attract foreign money ...... otherwise the US treasury has to buy the bonds and pushing the debt even higher and forcing up inflation even further ...... a cycle that can't be fixed with the way the US economy is headed ..... it will be interesting watching what happens from here, just glad I don't depend on any petroleum products that can't be made from recycling or synthesized ......

I'm very thankful that I was born in Australia and we have such great renewable energy available and we own our own house and can grow our own vegies if we need to .... and we have lots of really good meat just hopping around and plenty of underground mutton .....

T1 Terry