About Me

My photo
Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

FREE GAS - well, almost....

As I drove past my local Chevron dealer this afternoon, I noticed the price of gas. It was so LOW that I quickly turned around and filled up half a tank. The price? 116.9/liter! Unbelieveable! I can't remember when it was so low.
When I got home, I thought I'd check and see what the gas prices are in the United States. I went to gasbuddy.com and saw that it ranges from $2.90 to $3.72 per gallon. Now a gallon is equivalent to 3.7854118 liters so by my calculations, gas is STILL cheaper in the US today even with our low low prices!
I'm not a mathematician by ANY means, but if I multiply 116.9 X 3.7854118 I get about $4.42/gallon. Therefore, for our gas to be equal in price to the United States, we'd be paying the equivalent of $4.42, BUT the price in the United States today ranges, as I wrote above, from $2.90 to $3.72 per gallon. Just this past summer, we were paying almost $6.00 a gallon!
Ergo, why are the Americans grumbling about gas prices?

18 comments:

Jo said...

Isn't that the same gas they, oh, I dunno...

GET FROM US????

Leslie: said...

Um, let me think...uh YES!

Pear tree cottage! said...

Leslie, I filled up yesterday and had to pay $1.66 a ltr. and the day before it was $1.86.....I was happy but it still cost over $160.00 in one go.

"I remember when......it cost!!"

Lee-ann

Smalltown RN said...

Well I haven't seen it at 1.16 yet but it was 1.19 yesterday and hence I got gas....so it makes you wonder now doesn't it....how can they all of a sudden lower the gas prices when the summer we paid 1.50 litre...hmm let me guess....greed driven was the cause in the summer...because people were wanting to travel so why not charge them more for the gas....

Now it's an election...hmmmmmmm let me think.....do they really think we are that stupid?

Leslie: said...

Hi LeeAnn and MaryAnn, I wonder if the Americans ever think to look outside their own country to check what others are paying for everyday essentials. (Not ALL of them mind you 'cuz I have LOTS of American friends).

Katney said...

Oil prices fell this week and it has started to filter down to the pumps here--and apparently more slowly to your pumps. It's supposed to go down even further, but believe me, I haven't seen any $2.90 gas--though hubby got some the other day for #3.39 after deducting something like 30 cents discount for how much groceries we had bought.

How's that--the high grocery bill saves us on our gas bill!

jmb said...

You have to remember that gas prices here are mostly tax, fees for this and that, carbon tax, translink, etc.

To make you feel better go check up prices in the UK and Europe.

Leslie: said...

Hi jmb, yes I realise that a lot of our price goes towards tax, but it still sets the price higher than the Americans'.

Leslie: said...

Hi Katney, yes they get ya comin' and goin', don't they?

ArneA said...

For further calculation. Petrol here in Norway kost 13.00 norwegian kroner pr. liter. And we have lot of oil in the north sea. Cheap or expensive.
Have to return to your blog more often

me ann my camera said...

Our gas prices here on the east coast yesterday was $1.10 per litre! We will probably fill up both cars today at those prices. And I think I'll go to a nearby community where I can get a free pumpkin with a fill up. Have a nice day! Thanks for you lovely comments always.

HeatherDB said...

Because honestly... Americans think the world revolves around them. I have some dear American friends and love them a lot. However, it's an american mindset and it can't be broken. So any time we comment that they may not have it so bad... they just can't get it!

Trubes said...

Petrol prices here in the Uk mainly comprise of tax too so our grasping government can line their coffers.....I've just written a post about the economic state in our household Leslie and it doesn't make good reading...Our saving are depleting so quickly that we've had to put our forthcoming holiday on hold until things improve....Woe is me 1

Hope you and your lovely family are well and happy...Any news re your operation ?

Di.xx

Deb said...

Living in Georgia, we benefited from having some of the lowest prices of gas in the US. After hurricane Ike hit, the pipeline that feeds gas to Alabama, Georgia, parts of Tennessee and South Carolina dried up. We saw gas prices sore to $4.79 a gallon at some stations. Finally, gas is down now to the $3.50ish area here, which is just now at the national average.
With oil at $87 per barrel, I think gas should be much lower for all of us.
Here's a question for you. Does Canada have oil resources that are currently being utilized?

Leslie: said...

Deb - YES, the United States gets most of its oil from Canada and the province of Alberta is one giant oil field! There is so much oil in Canada that we can't get to it all.

Nancy said...

I filled up from dead empty today for $50.00, $2.94 a gallon. I'm happy about it and I'm not sorry I'm happy about it. If being happy about it makes me a bad person (American) bc, than so be it. Remember you Canadians have much cheaper drugs and medical care, probably as a result of your expensive gas. Have you priced health insurance in the US lately? I'm happy to be finally saving a little money in one place anyway.

Anonymous said...

Your ppl works out at 73.9 per litre here where it is actually 123.9 currently having dropped from 133.9.
Americans are on a national average of $3.35 per gallon which would equate as €2.48 a gallon ! I wish. If my brain is operating this early that is an incredible 55c per litre !
Poor things.

Leslie: said...

You're right, aileni - the Americans have no idea how good they really have it compared to the rest of the world!