Archive for September, 2008
September 29th, 2008
Prices are down 20 cents nationally and 40 cents locally in the past two weeks on the gasoline side. The Gulf is still not fully turned out after the hurricanes, but getting there. That’ll bring more supplies up here, lowering prices more. And with oil dropping, gas should keep going down. Call it a little good news amid all the bad news.
Here are the prices (as always, courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford dropped two cents to $3.79 a gallon. We have the third-highest gas prices in the state. The Illinois average dropped a cent to $3.85. The national average dropped a cent to $3.64. Illinois has the fifth-highest gas prices in the nation.
Diesel: Rockford dropped a cent to $4.06 a gallon. We have the fourth- or fifth-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average remained at $4.19. The national average dropped a cent to $4.08. Illinois the ninth-highest prices in the country.
September 25th, 2008
We’re coming down, but supply out of Chicago isn’t fully recovered yet and now the bailout talk has traders thinking it will help the economy and drive up demand for gasoline. That’s right, good news would be bad news.
Here are the prices (as always, courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford dropped four cents to $3.89 a gallon. We’re tied with East St. Louis with the second-highest gas prices in the state. The Illinois average dropped three cents to $3.94. The national average dropped almost two cents to $3.70. Illinois has the fourth-highest gas prices in the nation.
Diesel: Rockford dropped two cents to $4.05 a gallon. We have the sixth-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average dropped a cent to $4.22. The national average dropped slightly to $4.10. Illinois the ninth-highest prices in the country.
September 25th, 2008
Talk about ambitious.
A Beechcraft King Air 200 twin turboprop attempted to fly nonstop from Ketchikan, Alaska, to Rockford today.
The plane normally flies 2-hour or less trips around Alaska for Bering Air. This would have been a more-than-8-hour trip. It was flying to to get its annual maintenence inspection at Emery Air in Rockford. Emery has worked on planes from Alaska and Nepal, as well as places in the continental U.S. But it’s not often you see such a small plane try to make the trip nonstop.
I watched its progress on FlightAware.com much of the day. Sadly, they needed to land in Fargo, N.D., either for fuel or a stretch break. But way to try, Bering Air pilot, you have some serious … dedication.
September 25th, 2008
Chicago Rockford International Airport Executive Director Bob O’Brien tells me that the airline considering service from RFD to the Fort Myers, Fla., area might announce its decision early next week. It’s deciding between Rockford and a New York state airport for its newest service to Fort Myers area.
O’Brien has heard from about 1,500 households in the northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin area who regularly go to Fort Myers. I’ve heard from some of them too, and many seem to fly back and forth several times a season … and have friends and family who fly down to see them. Basically, a lot of demand for seasonal service.
Now, O’Brien is asking southwest Florida residents to take a survey too. It’s available at flyrfd.com through Monday.
RFD is making a full-court press for a long-sought destination, and it seems they’re really close…
September 24th, 2008
The Chicago area still had the highest wholesale gasoline prices in the country, last I saw, so it’s been a slow recovery from the Ike shutdowns. But things seem to be getting back online, and prices are starting what could be a precipitous descent, should oil not go up again.
Rockford prices are down to $3.85 to $3.89 a gallon today, so the prices AAA reported this morning are already outdated. But still worth writing about (as always, courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford dropped almost two cents to $3.93 a gallon. We still have the second-highest gas prices in the state. The Illinois average dropped more than two cents to $3.97. The national average dropped a cent to $3.72. Illinois has the third-highest gas prices in the nation.
Diesel: Rockford increased three cents to $4.07 a gallon. We have the fifth-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average increased a cent to $4.23. The national average remained at $4.11. Illinois the eighth-highest prices in the country.
September 22nd, 2008
Interesting commentary by Brett Snyder, known otherwise as Cranky Flier:
While some hotel construction projects have been halted, many more of them continue, adding thousands of rooms that need to be filled by someone. Meanwhile, the airlines have been slashing Vegas flights like there’s no tomorrow, hurting the ability of travelers to get to all those rooms. Someone is going to be feeling the pain in Vegas very soon.
<snip>
Airlines like Allegiant will continue to expand since they make a lot of their money off packaging hotels. You know that they’ll just continue to see better and better rates.
Makes me almost want to try to convince my wife to take a trip out there next year. Almost. So, anyone out there finding good hotel deals in Vegas?
September 17th, 2008
Sometime this afternoon, stations started going down to $3.99 a gallon. I know CornerMarket Shell has done it, as has Road Ranger, and I assume others. This reflects the drop in wholesale prices out of Chicago, which fell to near $3 yesterday, according to the Oil Price Information Service. (There’s usually at least a day lag because the companies selling gas don’t tend to change their prices until after trading closes in the evening.)
Wholesale dropped down to $2.83 today in Chicago, according to OPIS. That indicates another drop is iminent this week. Now, many of you aren’t going to buy this, but as I noted earlier this week when wholesale prices spiked to over $4 a gallon, oil companies and/or retailers took a hit when they didn’t raise the price much above that. If there’s any perceived delay on prices falling, it’s partly due to the supply chain effectively “catching up” to get some of their money back. Or would you have preferred $5 a gallon gas earlier this week, followed by a steeper drop?
Here’s a “for instance.” Say a retailer filled up their tanks earlier this week with $3.47 a gallon wholesale, because they’re worried they won’t be able to get product later in the week, If they’re still working off that, they can either drop it and stay competitive with other retailers - and lose money - or keep it up and lose customers.
It’s a complex business, and it’s tough times all around
September 17th, 2008
Peoria airport officials are looking to rename the airport after native son, four-star Gen. Wayne A. Downing. If it happens, former presidential candidate (and Downing friend) Ross Perot may come to the dedication.
I was going to make a Perot joke here, but it doesn’t seem appropriate since they’re honoring a deceased military veteran with such a distinguished career. I’ll just say that thinking back at the 1992 presidential election makes me feel old.
September 16th, 2008
Just passing the time, waiting for gasoline supplies from the Gulf Coast to get back on track so we can see some real relief at the pump.
Was on an enlightening teleconference today with Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, about the effects of Hurricane Ike. He said, of the fact that refineries and pipelines were shut down, “A pipeline is like the aorta. That aorta hasn’t been pumping much blood here.”
Later, on his blog, he had the quote of the day:
Everyone loves to demonize members of the gasoline supply chain. If you listen to motorists talk about gasoline prices, you might conclude that gasoline marketers not only club baby seals, they urinate on them after the deed is done.
Wholesale gas prices out of Chicago increased this morning, OPIS reported. No word yet on how they closed, or what oil companies are charging retailers for the stuff.
Road Ranger’s Web site lists its Rockford prices as down to $4.09 a gallon. I’m sure others are down there, too, but I’m not out on the street.
Here’s what the price situation for the metro area, state and nation was as of this morning (prices courtesy of AAAs fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford increased three cents to just under $4.20 a gallon since Monday morning. That’s less than a cent off the all-time record, but hopefulyl it’s also the high-water mark. We have the second-highest gas prices in the state. The Illinois average rose two cents to $4.18, seven cents off its record. The national average rose a penny to $3.85, reflecting how we’re being hit harder than most of the country. Illinois has the fourth-highest gas prices in the nation. Other top states are always-high Alaska ($4.40) and Hawaii ($4.31), Midwestern states Michigan ($4.19) and Indiana ($4.17, a record for the lower-taxed state) and Southeastern states Georgia ($4.16, South Carolina ($4.10), Tennessee ($4.09), North Carolina ($4.08), Alabama ($4.05), Kentucky ($4.03) and West Virginia ($4.01). Shows where the pain is, right up a line from the hurricane north.
Diesel: Rockford increased a cent to $4.10 a gallon. We have the seventh-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average increased a a cent to $4.30. The national average increased a fraction of a cent to remain at $4.19. Illinois the 11th-highest prices in the country (including the District of Columbia).
September 16th, 2008
Two recent news items about vivaAerobus, the ultra-low-cost airline that Chicago Rockford International Airport has been courting:
Previous Posts
