Fuel Prices

[dales]

Should this be done?

White House: Oil Reserves Eyed As Oil Prices Rise
by The Associated Press

March 6, 2011 President Obama's chief of staff says the administration is looking at the nation's oil reserves as it considers options for dealing with the spike in gas prices.

The price of a barrel of oil has passed $100. In the U.S., gasoline is averaging $3.50 a gallon. Those increases come amid unrest in the oil-producing Middle East, particularly as rebellion rages in Libya.

"We're looking at the options," including drawing on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Chief of Staff William Daley said. "It is something that only is done — and has been done — in very rare occasions. There's a bunch of factors that have to be looked at. And it is just not the price."

He told NBC's Meet the Press that "all matters have to be on the table when ... you see the difficulty coming out of this economic crisis we're in and the fragility of it."

The reserves contain 727 million barrels of oil.

[Gob]

In the U.S., gasoline is averaging $3.50 a gallon.

In the UK 140p litre =546p per gallon = $8.787 US a gallon.

In Aus $1.34 litre = $5.22 gallon = $5.29 US a gallon.

Not really feeling your pain here, suck it up Princess

[Rick]

The short answer?

No...

[Sue U]

Not really feeling your pain here, suck it up Princess

In Aus, your costs for many other necessities are lower -- healthcare, to name a big one, and I'll bet housing, too -- while (from what I can tell) your salaries are fairly comparable. (Curious what your average food costs are.) So in terms of maintaining a standard of living my guess is it's a wash.

[Gob]

It'd be interesting to make a comparrison, but how?

[Sue U]

We could start with a market basket of groceries. Here's mine form yesterday's shopping (in USD):

Asparagus: 1.99/lb
Green beans: 1.99/lb
Broccoli crowns: .99/lb
Eggplant: 1.29/lb
Green cabbage: .17/lb
Grape tomatoes: 1.50/pt
Avocados (Haas, small): .75 each
Bananas: .49/lb
Strawberries: 1.99/lb
Potatoes (red): 1.29/5 lb bag
Olive oil (ex virgin): 4.40/litre
Canned crushed tomatoes (28 oz): .66/each
Microwave popcorn: 1.00/3-pack box
Milk (1%): 2.32/gal
Orange juice (premium): 1.99/half gal
Butter: 2.99/lb (outrageous! but we were out)
Eggs (large): 1.89/doz
Pita: .99/5 loaves
French baguette: 1.89/loaf
Pasta (assorted varieties): .59/lb (on sale; usually .75)
Split chicken breast: 1.49/lb
Chicken leg quarters: .69/lb
80% lean ground beef: 1.99/lb
Corned beef brisket: 1.88/lb

Didn't buy any paper products, cleaning supplies or frozen foods this week (although I'll probably get some ice cream at some point, 1.99/56 oz).

[Miles]

We could start with a market basket of groceries. Here's mine form yesterday's shopping (in USD):

Asparagus: 1.99/lb
Green beans: 1.99/lb
Broccoli crowns: .99/lb
Eggplant: 1.29/lb
Green cabbage: .17/lb
Grape tomatoes: 1.50/pt
Avocados (Haas, small): .75 each
Bananas: .49/lb
Strawberries: 1.99/lb
Potatoes (red): 1.29/5 lb bag
Olive oil (ex virgin): 4.40/litre
Canned crushed tomatoes (28 oz): .66/each
Microwave popcorn: 1.00/3-pack box
Milk (1%): 2.32/gal
Orange juice (premium): 1.99/half gal
Butter: 2.99/lb (outrageous! but we were out)
Eggs (large): 1.89/doz
Pita: .99/5 loaves
French baguette: 1.89/loaf
Pasta (assorted varieties): .59/lb (on sale; usually .75)
Split chicken breast: 1.49/lb
Chicken leg quarters: .69/lb
80% lean ground beef: 1.99/lb
Corned beef brisket: 1.88/lb

Didn't buy any paper products, cleaning supplies or frozen foods this week (although I'll probably get some ice cream at some point, 1.99/56 oz).

Sue, several of your prices are extremely low compared to my area even for the Aldi stores.

[@meric@nwom@n]

Hmmm no, bad idea, folks may as well start getting used to higher prices. It may even get folks interested in alternative energy.

[Long Run]

Plus, I think Sue is just trying to impress us that she buys healthy foods. Except she gave away that she doesn't buy happy chickens.

[Sue U]

Sue, several of your prices are extremely low compared to my area even for the Aldi stores.

These are pretty regular prices around here; I buy groceries at ShopRite and Wegman's, which are major supermarket chains, and at Produce Junction, which is also a pretty big regional outfit. (The Produce Junction prices are very low, especially if you're buying vegetables in bulk; they also carry an awesome rustic Italian bread around here.) I have not found Aldi's prices to be particularly competitive in this market, and their selection is kinda thin. What kind of prices are you paying for these same items?

Plus, I think Sue is just trying to impress us that she buys healthy foods. Except she gave away that she doesn't buy happy chickens.

It's true, I don't buy happy chickens; I buy dead ones. (But we're thinking of building a chicken coop this spring, so maybe we'll make our own dead chickens.) And I don't think of these foods as particularly or impressively "healthy," it's just what we normally eat; these are mostly staples that I get every week (except the corned beef -- we made corned beef and cabbage for dinner last night since we couldn't wait for St. Patrick's Day). What is it that you buy/eat week in and week out?

ETA:

Here's the ShopRite supermarket circular for this week. And here's the Wegman's circular.

[@meric@nwom@n]

We could start with a market basket of groceries. Here's mine form yesterday's shopping (in USD):

Asparagus: 1.99/lb
Green beans: 1.99/lb
Broccoli crowns: .99/lb
Eggplant: 1.29/lb
Green cabbage: .17/lb
Grape tomatoes: 1.50/pt
Avocados (Haas, small): .75 each
Bananas: .49/lb
Strawberries: 1.99/lb
Potatoes (red): 1.29/5 lb bag
Olive oil (ex virgin): 4.40/litre
Canned crushed tomatoes (28 oz): .66/each
Microwave popcorn: 1.00/3-pack box
Milk (1%): 2.32/gal
Orange juice (premium): 1.99/half gal
Butter: 2.99/lb (outrageous! but we were out)
Eggs (large): 1.89/doz
Pita: .99/5 loaves
French baguette: 1.89/loaf
Pasta (assorted varieties): .59/lb (on sale; usually .75)
Split chicken breast: 1.49/lb
Chicken leg quarters: .69/lb
80% lean ground beef: 1.99/lb
Corned beef brisket: 1.88/lb

Didn't buy any paper products, cleaning supplies or frozen foods this week (although I'll probably get some ice cream at some point, 1.99/56 oz).

Perfect. Now all Gob has to do is go shopping for the equivalent, doing the metric conversion of course, then change Merican dollars to Ozzies dollars. Snap to it Gob.

[Sue U]

Perfect. Now all Gob has to do is go shopping for the equivalent, doing the metric conversion of course, then change Merican dollars to Ozzies dollars. Snap to it Gob.

Rough equivalents would work just fine: Aus and US dollars are just about 1:1 now; a pound is slightly less than half a kilo and a quart is slightly less than a litre. Close enough.

Also, @w, are these prices comparable to your area? I'm curious as to what people pay for food elsewhere. I remember when I lived in South Florida (30 yrs ago) I thought food prices were outrageously high, and the produce always looked terrible.

A staple not included on my earlier list: 20-lb sack of rice (long grain): 6.99 to 7.99. Also, we've been buying 5-lb boxes of Clementines for 3.99 to 5.99 (prce varies weekly). Grapes also vary weekly from about 1.19 to 2.19/lb.

[@meric@nwom@n]

My experience is that east coast produce is that it is better than what everyone else has. No idea why.

Now about the price of things here, this will make people roll their eyes at me, no doubt, but I never pay the slightest attention to what stuff costs at the grocery store. If I see something that looks good or I need it- I buy it. I pay with a debit card and just don't pay close attention to what the total is.

I expect if I did pay attention I could scream at myself.

[SisterMaryFellatio]

Where are you getting petrol that cheap Gob? I paid $1.50 yesterday!

Those grocery prices seem cheaper than ours....

[Gob]

That's the local price SMF, not including the 4 c discount voucher.

Sue, you'll have to wait until Sunday when I do the family shopping, I'll take your list and price it up against the local (Coles) supermarket prices.

Though I have to agree with SMF that at first look your prices seem very cheap compared to ours, for example asparagus here is $1.49 a bunch.

[oldr_n_wsr]

That's the local price SMF, not including the 4 c discount voucher.

Sue, you'll have to wait until Sunday when I do the family shopping, I'll take your list and price it up against the local (Coles) supermarket prices.

Though I have to agree with SMF that at first look your prices seem very cheap compared to ours, for example asparagus here is $1.49 a bunch.

How much is in a "bunch"?

[Gob]

A dozen stalks or so.

Just weighed one, 6 oz.

[kristina]

I got asparagus last week for $.99/pound, and it's just the beginning of the season! At this time of year, we have asparagus nearly every day...

[Sean]

A quick shufty at Coles website tells me that in most cases we're paying more than twice as much as that for groceries...

[Long Run]

I'm wondering about the $1.99 strawberries. Last ones I saw were $3.99, but might better be called fresas.