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Gasoline is what keeps America’s economy going. Most of the private vehicles operate on one hundred forty billion gallons of diesel and gasoline every year. This consumption is higher by 3.2 percent from last year.
Keeping track of the prices of gasoline can somehow feel like taking a ride on a carnival’s roller coaster. The prices can go up in one month and down on the next. Gasoline prices can even increase by up to fifty percent or more in just one year.
The prices also vary from county to county or state to state, even city to city and street to street. The average Joe may think that the prices of gasoline can be easily determined but there are many factors which can affect the prices of gasoline.
Americans have always had the need for lot's of gasoline. One of the best examples is easily seen by the fact that we have purchased so many sport-utility vehicles, regardless of their gas guzzling engines, and the numbers of consumers are continuously growing. Any shortage on gas will surely create a crisis in the country. The number of people today who own at least one vehicle has doubled since the early years of 1980s.
Americans have an average consumption of twenty million barrels of gasoline each day. This was reported by the Department of Energy. About forty five percentage is consumed for gasoline for their vehicles. Every barrel has forty two gallons of oil which produces twenty gallons of gasoline. In the USA, the daily consumption of gasoline is a total of one hundred seventy eight million gallons!
That’s a lot of gas!
Usually the demand for gasoline increases in the summer season. This is time when many people spend their time on vacation. This is very evident during holidays like the Fourth of July or Memorial Day which usually results in a lot of traffic jams on the streets.
The increased demand results in an increase in the prices of gasoline. This is an annual trend and add to this other factors such as natural disaster and gas prices seem to rise uncontrollably.
Take for example after the summer of 2004 the prices of gasoline increased because of many reasons which included the Katrina Hurricane. The increase also translated for the prices of crude oil.
By 2005 the prices of gasoline for a gallon reached over three dollars. The prices only stabilized by November and December of the same year. However today there are more increases of prices and gasoline is up over three dollars and twenty five cents in many parts of the country.
The increase in gasoline prices usually happens when the market for crude oil all over the world either lowers or tightens the gasoline inventory. Watch these and other local factors to try and judge the best time to say, “Fill ‘er up!”