WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress voted on Friday to repeal the 40-year-old ban on exporting U.S. crude oil in an energy policy shift sought by Republicans as part of a bipartisan deal that also provided unprecedented tax incentives for wind and solar power.

The Senate, on a 65-33 vote, approved lifting the ban and providing five-year extensions of tax breaks to boost renewable energy development as part of a $1.8 trillion government spending and tax relief bill that President Barack Obama quickly signed into law.

The House of Representatives passed legislation containing the energy provisions earlier in the day by a 316-113 tally..

There are a lot of articles on the subject that will help to explain and understand the pros and cons of the action.

Bottom line is we are all Rv'ers and fuel is a high expense on the budget. We will be doing about 7K miles this summer so we hope the low prices hold for awhile

The date of the article was December 18,2015.

Edited January 12, 2016 by richfaa

WTI (West Texas Intermediate) closed today for $31.25 per barrel. Remembering that a oil barrel is 42 gallons (and why that odd number?? why not 55 gallons) makes the raw material $0.7440 per gallon.

According to EIA.gov

Refineries in the United States produced an average of about 12 gallons of diesel fuel and 19 gallons of gasoline from one barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil in 2014. Many other petroleum products are also refined from crude oil. Refinery yields of individual products vary from month to month as refiners focus operations to meet demand for different products and to maximize profits.

Now through in some taxes - Federal, State

How much tax do we pay on a gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel?

The taxes on retail gasoline and diesel fuel, in cents per gallon, as of July 1, 2015:

Gasoline Diesel

Federal 18.40 24.40

Average of all states 26.49 27.24

Edited January 12, 2016 by Bill B

Just before we left upstate NY on a trek south yesterday, we saw our first under $2/gal ($1.99) for regular gas in that area. i know there are others, but that was the first we'd seen around our cottage. An attendant was changing the previous $2.01 price at a Speedway just as we pulled in to top off the coach and toad. Our 5% PenFed Visa cash rebate brings it down to about $1.89. We're still looking forward to the $1.60 in SC though!

imo gas prices wont go to a buck a gallon, mainly tax's. but im sure we all be happy with $1.25 gallon. an $1.50 for diesel.

in my area we now at $2.05 Diesel, an $1.85 for gas. tourist area worst of its kind. but oil flirting with $30 a barrel is looking good for us an with El Nino effect that is sort of helping, warm up north, so less heating oil used.. But ppl still need to conserve there use to keep supply well over what we consume.

That is main factor on price.

If there is any who can not afford to travel in their RVs now; what will you do when the fuel prices go back up. And don't think they will go up a few pennies at a time! Sticker Shock will become reality!!!!

Gas is going to be cheaper in the south. I am betting Texas will continue to be one of the cheapest while the over taxed states in the east and west will be the most expensive.

By the way I filled up yesterday at my local Racetrack reg. $1.49 for Reg. $1.62 for diesel. My best price was a couple weeks before Christmas I had the coach out and filled up at Kroger for $0.989.Love my Kroger points.

Bill

Filled up my Duramax dually yesterday; $1.47/G. Forgot to note gasoline price. As soon as my road gets de-iced, I'll fill up some 5G cans and top-off everything I've got, including the kerosene heater in the garage.

Diesel still heading down; $1.679 ARCO on 16th in Yuma today.

Later,

J

PS Send some of that $1.47/G stuff this way.

Edited January 26, 2016 by KodiakJack

Gas buddy showed regular as low as $1.27 and diesel starting at $1.72 today in Tucson AZ. Best price I've seen here in southern Maine today is $1.68 for regular and $2.15 for diesel.

The low diesel and gas prices have saved us a lot of $$ thus far this winter. The trip down from Ohio in mid Oct was 101.00 less than the same time last year. We hope it keeps up as we have a 7K miles trip planned this summer. Bottom line is we are going but it would be nice to save a few bucks.