It occurred to me the other day as I was filling up on some of that refined oil product we've been stealing from the Iraqis that with the increase in gas prices, something funny has been going on.
Back when gas was around two bucks a gallon for regular, stations would sell their midgrade for 10 cents more, and their premium for 20 cents more per gallon. Which, if I can manage to remember how to work my calculator, means that the cost for premium was about 10 percent more than regular.
Now that gasoline is knocking on three bucks a gallon, I noticed that the same $2.949, $3.049, and $3.149 price spread is still there. Premium still costs 20 cents more per gallon, but the difference between the high and low is now only a bit over six and three-quarters percent.
The reason I did all this figuring was because the other day the valves on the Volvo were rattling a bit more than usual on the regular grade, and I thought about getting a bottle of octane booster for it. But it occurred to me that to fill up with premium would only add about $2 to my bill, while a bottle of junk is more like $4. And now that premium is even less expensive relative to regular gas by percentage, I might decide to spring for it more often, just to keep the noise level down.
Anyway, it also makes me wonder about just exactly how much premium gas REALLY costs to make versus regular.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at October 5, 2005 10:07 AM