Fuel prices for 2008

[Jaxfishgyd]

Last week in the business section of my newspaper there was a writeup out of Washington DC that stated gas prices WILL hit $3.75-3.95 a gal by spring time. (Today here in Jacksonville it's $3.07 a gal)
IF that was to be true, the price of diesel will also go a lot higher.
I "normally" burn 800-1200 gals a year. But when I bought our boat in 2000, the price was also 94 cents a gal.
Just wondering how it will impact the rest of you on what plans you have for the coming year. I know it will cause me to cut back on the amount of trips I will be making.

[Genesis]

I expect that fuel prices will skyrocket in the early part of the year, but as demand destruction gets going later on this year, they will collapse along with the price of oil.

[kwerges]

We were looking to do a San Diego-to-La Paz, Mexico trip possibly next year, 900 - 1,000 miles each way (depending on side trips). Even with the cost of diesel in Mexico being traditionally lower, it appears the cost increases are trying to stay up with the U.S. Cruising at a 1 to 1 speed (mph vs mpg), it may require waiting until '09 to save for fuel costs...

[Mike Hill]

I have been traveling from Maryland to the Florida Keys since 2000, but am in the process of looking into house rentals for the 2009 season. It will be cheaper to rent a home for 5 months then to pay for the trip and Marina fees.I will miss the trip, but I don't think it's going to get any cheaper. But I now have buy a small fishing boat to trailer back and forth, so it may take 2 years to make up the money I'll be saving. Plus this will give me more cruising time on the Chesapeake, which is a plus.

[Roscoe]

Accelerating global oil depletion rates have climbed to over 4% which erases nearly 4 million barrels per day out of each year's production while high costs and technically challenging fields have left global supply growth vulnerable to project delays.

Coupled with surging demand in developing countries, this depletion and stalled production growth will lead to the global supply of oil to drop by as much as 8 million barrels per day below the US Department of Energy's estimates by 2012.

Look for $150 per barrel of oil by 2012 and a fuel price of $6 per gallon.

India just unveiled a $2500 car and demand for fuel from the developing world will create higher oil prices. Also, many developing countries subsidize the cost of fuel.

Any hope for oil price collapse is wishful thinking because the economics of a very challenging discovery environment make cheaper oil difficult.

As we have noticed last week,when oil prices drop,it takes very little for certain countries to escalate geopolitical tensions to the point that the oil price goes back up.

[Maynard Rupp]

We filled our 36C with gas yesterday at Crandon Park Marina in Miami. $3.54/ gallon. I also noticed their diesel fuel was also $3.54. The other places around here are $3.80 for gas and $3.50 for diesel. I do see a trend that was started last year at auto gas stations where gas is cheaper than diesel. Lucky me, I have a gas engined boat and a diesel truck. So i get screwed at all fueling places. Watch out diesel Hatteras owners, I think the tide is turning on diesel that is cheaper than gas.

[SKYCHENEY]

To answer the original question, no. I do not intend to burn less fuel and run the boat less because diesel will be $4/gal. I figure that since I cut and burn wood all winter and don't burn any gas to heat my house, I more than pay for the diesel fuel for the boat. I know, it's just a way to justify the cost, but I've got to have some justification for this habit.

Just think, if I were a 2 pack/day smoker, I'd be spending $3600/year. But since I'm not, there's another 1000 gallons I can burn. I can find all kinds of justifications for boating. In fact, I thinks it's my #1 priority. Now I just have to find a way to earn a living without actually working. Then I could spend all of my time the boat.

[mtadamek]

Fuel prices will keep going up until demand drops. Unfortunately there is not much we can do about it here in the U.S. Global demand is up, but don't drink the koolaid and think there is a shortage. The oil companies have created a false market by capping wells and waiting for the price to rise to bring them to market. There are many examples of this and why wouldn't they. Simple economics. Ethanol won't help because you get hit in the pocket when you buy groceries. Biodiesel has been blocked by the oil companies as well. BD requires methanol which is produced from oil in most instances today.

[SKYCHENEY]

Isn't methanol just wood alcohol? How do they make it from petroleum?

[chris piazza]

I also burn about 1000 to 1300gal a season. This equates to maybe $1300 more a year in fuel costs. This WILL NOT keep us from enjoying the boat this season, Hell $1300 is a very small percentage of what we spend a year in ownership. However if they lowered it a dollar instead of raising it a dollar I could buy some $2600 electronic gizmo for the bridge to play with......

Chris
Superior Nights 53C