Most motorists are feeling the pain as gasoline creeps toward $3 a gallon – but not Art Altrichter. “This feels pretty good!” Altrichter said as he filled the tank of his Ford F-150 pickup for $2.03 a gallon this week, when the average was $2.73. “Right now, to be a few pennies over $2, when it’s as high as it is? That’s a real deal.” How is this possible? A year ago bought 500 gallons of gas, locking it in at $2.03 per gallon. Altrichter said one of his neighbors got in at First Fuel Banks several years ago and is now is withdrawing from a reserve that cost him 99 cents a gallon. “How about that!” he said.
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05/09, 2:33 PM
posted by:
Mike
so, if the consumer is not taking a loss on this, who is? did the bank invest these payments elsewhere? Did the bank send these out as loans? How is this certified/insured?
there are a lot of ????’s surrounding this one, but an interesting idea nonetheless
05/09, 2:50 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
Hell, it’s ‘zactly how SouthWest airlines could make $30M in one quarter when all the other airlines – who did not have the cash to purchase ‘fuel futures’ – we’re bleeding cash out the butt.
j i m
05/09, 2:51 PM
posted by:
Arne
I would guess the bank sold some insurance package and they bet on the fact that gas prices won’t increase as much as they did. They lost the bet, so this customer is happy.
05/09, 2:53 PM
posted by:
sca
He doesn’t mean a bank you make monetary transactions at. He stored the fuel away in a large tanker, or “fuel bank” and waited to use it until the price went higher.
You could do the same, and it is not certified, insured etc. Just pump gas next time its $1.56 a gallon, and store it in your garage, just like your lawnmower gas….
fairly simple concept. no one loses, except those who were not clever enough to think gas would ever go this high. Hell, you might want to bank it now at $3.00 the way things are going….
05/09, 2:58 PM
posted by:
Anonymous #2
Has anyone actually read the article that is linked? There’s a place in MN that sells fuel in bulk, and stores it (in very large tanks) for (apparently) no charge beyond the $1.00 membership fee. They do trade funds on the NY futures market since their storage is not infinite.
~Cheers!
05/09, 3:25 PM
posted by:
Micah
brilliant!
05/09, 4:10 PM
posted by:
Tommy
500 gallons at $2 versus 500 gallons at $3 is only a $500 savings. So if a 500 gallon tanker costs less than $500 it’s a smart move. Otherwise, it will be quite some time before you get any real savings from your investment. I guess if you have the money and space for it, more power to you.
05/09, 4:55 PM
posted by:
Anonymous #2
Again, has anyone read the article?
This one:
http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2006/05/07/ap2726562.html
05/09, 8:28 PM
posted by:
BAMF
I had this same idea years ago, but I just didn’t have the money. I also didn’t know exactly how high gas prices would get.
Damn…
05/09, 8:40 PM
posted by:
gsh
isnt it a little more complicated when storing fuel for long periods of time? doesnt it start to settle, kinda like wine?
05/09, 8:57 PM
posted by:
Tony
Yeah, gas has a pretty short effective life before it turns to junk. If he bought this gas at less than $2, that has got to be some pretty old gas…..
05/09, 9:18 PM
posted by:
Anonymous #2
Wow. The guy didn’t buy gas and bring it home.
Why does it bother me so much that people aren’t even reading the article? Is it too much to ask that people read what they are so willing to comment about.
The guy paid for gas in advance, when it was $2. Then, he goes to the place where he paid the money, pumps his ga, and deducts gallons from his pre-paid balance of gallons.
Yeah, I’m “that guy”
05/10, 1:16 AM
posted by:
BAMF
lol good call anonymous… sorry. we dont all always have time to read the linked article. not me anyway
05/10, 4:04 AM
posted by:
Tony
No, if YOU had read the article, you would have seen the paragraph stating…
“That’s enough capacity to handle short-and medium-term demand, he said. For people holding onto reserves for a year or longer, the company hedges its obligations by buying gasoline futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange. ”
So short and medium-term demand is demand lasting up to a year, meaning, some of that gas is swishing around those communal storage tanks for 12 months.
As Chevron themselves suggest, storing gas for a year is possible, but you would be pushing your luck.
http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/longterm_gasoline/
Perhaps we should be thinking about more important things, like why a gallon of locally produced and easily pasteurized milk costs as much as a gallon of refined gas brought from the far side of the planet…
05/10, 10:08 AM
posted by:
Arne
“Perhaps we should be thinking about more important things, like why a gallon of locally produced and easily pasteurized milk costs as much as a gallon of refined gas brought from the far side of the planet…”
I agree 100%. Milk is way too expensive!
08/10, 3:47 PM
posted by:
equipoise
equipoise equipoise
08/13, 5:04 PM
posted by:
winstrol
winstrol winstrol