So what, did a whale fart off the coast of Japan and cause oil futures to jump?

@Tightlines: A whale wouldn't dare fart near Japan. That would give away his location and he would surely be harpooned.

I think it was a camel farting in the middle east.

It's probably because the stock market is up and people are beginning to bet on oil futures again, sigh... here we go again.

$1.77 in Old Bridge, NJ

$2.089 is the cheapest i can find in NW CT.

No love for the Midwest. And no, Chicago is not the Midwest.

2.22 In San Luis Obispo CA

@termitehead: [gasbuddy.com]

$1.81 - $1.91 Virginia Beach, VA

Just over $2 everywhere in Orlando.

Where the hey in NYC are these people finding gas for $1.99? Unless they're counting Jersey City/Hoboken, which is REALLY flawed as NJ gas taxes are much lower.

1.79 here in Phoenix.

@Willow01: I just paid $1.89 for 91 octane at Fry's with their $0.10/gallon discount.

@paxetaurora: Yes but in NJ we make up for it with car accidents. Thus raising the premiums of our car insurance to nearly the highest levels in the country.

$1.94-$2.09/gal in the Detroit metro area.

Cash prices... add $0.04-$0.06 for credit.

Keep it going UP UP UP!!!!!

(sorry guys, O&G royalty owner here....)

oil is actually down due to the automotive news and less demand, yet price is going up...here we go again with the speculators.

@Tightlines: Print more money, dilute the dollar, and oil costs more USD.

Can you link directly to your source of the information. Something other than the EIA's main site? I would like to know who chooses these cities and why those are the ones listed here. Perhaps you could post data over time instead of a static number that doesn't really say anything. Perhaps you could also graph average prices compared to crude oil prices, that could be helpful?

Lastly, do you think gaspricewatch.com enjoys your use their title for your recurring segment?

@JohnAllison: Perhaps you could post data over time instead of a static number that doesn't really say anything.

As in more than just this week and last week. The more time, the useful.

@meske: Stop making sense.

@axiomatic: I have to agree with this. More work for me is never a bad thing... (employee of an international oil field services company here.)

@termitehead: I dare ask, If Chicago isn't considered Midwest, what is?

"Top of the world, TOP OF THE WORLD, ma!"

(Los Angeles graciously takes her bow)

@BuildnCastles: Haven't Jersey guys figured out yet that cars handle MUCH better without gumba corpses stashed in the trunk?
Calzone, of course, provide the optimal counter-weight, handlingwise.

@JohnAllison: Or, you could, y'know, get off your lazy butt and do the work yourself, then share your findings here?
Jeeeezus...

@paxetaurora: I've been wondering the same thing. In my neck of the woods here in NYC, we're around $2.15 for regular. Unless prices fell through the floor in the past day.

Here's the EIA NYC Gas survey results:
[tonto.eia.doe.gov]

And it shows the $1.99 price. Weird, that's for sure.

The best trick I've found to save on gas is using a credit card offering a cash-back rebate on gasoline - possibly combined with a store's discount card.

Example: My Chase MasterCard (which I pay in full each month) gives me an automatic 3% monthly rebate on gas purchases. At $2/gallon, this is six cents off per gallon - better than the .02-.03 cash discount most stations offer.

Store loyalty cards (Kroger, Safeway, etc.) are also good for an extra .03-.10 discount per gallon. Just remember to compare the supermarket or warehouse club price to what other stations in the area are charging. The Kroger near my house is usually .03 higher than the Chevron across the street, making the basic .03 "Kroger Card" discount a moot point.