Odd that Minnesota gets unprecedented gas price increases the same week as Marriage Equality.

[Thor_MN]

The nation yawned when Marriage Equality came to Minnesota, being much more interested in the ZOMG!!!Frozen TSUNAMI!!!

The gas price spike is blamed on refinery shutdowns three states away and MN prices are up much more that where the refineries have actually been shut down. Minnesota prices rival California price, which is unheard of. Could be just an odd coincidence, but we get most of our gas from... Koch Refinery.

In any case, I'm really regretting not getting the boat onto Lake Superior last week, the 40 gallon tank is empty at this point.

[Newsjock]

1. David Koch supports marriage equality

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80483.html
August 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – Billionaire industrialist David Koch, who is helping steer millions of dollars to elect Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans, on Thursday told POLITICO he disagrees with the GOP’s stance on gay marriage and believes the U.S. needs to consider raising taxes to balance the budget.

[HiPointDem]

22. who gives a damn what that union-busting slave-labor using tax cheat gov't-subsidy sucking

asshole supports?

oooh, he 'supports' gay marriage!

slaves can get married, big fucking whoop.

[CBGLuthier]

2. Oklahoma Gas Prices have spiked too and trust me

this fucking state ain't granting no equality to no one. I fully expect this state of shit kickers to be the last state to do so.

[Thor_MN]

11. Minnesota's prices are up a dime a gallon more that Oklahoma's

and we don't have a refinery down...

Gas Buddy says OK up about 35 cents in last week, MN up about 45 cents. Illinois, one of the other refineries down, up 4 cents. Kansas, another refinery down, 32 cents. Indiana, the 4th refinery 5 cents.


Probably just the Koch's taking advantage of shortages in other states, but it doesn't makes sense that MN prices are higher than where the shortages actually are.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I think your tinfoil hat might be getting a little tight.

The Kochs couldn't care less about marriage equality; I'm sure they're happy with whatever makes them money. They are pure capitalists with no interest in conservative social issues. I suspect there's some speculation behind the gas price spike along with the alleged temporary refinery maintenance (the timing of which is suspicious, but probably related to gouging as much as possible from summer driving).

In any event, I'm glad my boat is a sailboat. We use about three gallons of gas per summer.

[Thor_MN]

6. 24 foot Bayliner, but we fish using a 15 HP kicker motor.

We use maybe 15 gallons on the main engine a summer. We emptied the main tank last fall because most of the gas was 2 years old. We get about 4-5 days of fishing in on a 5 gallon tank for the Kicker. I know my dad would like to get out there more, but my work schedule and that I live near Minneapolis means that we burn maybe 25-30 gallons a summer.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. That's not too bad. You don't want to go fast when fishing anyhow.

We tried fishing from the sailboat once. It was interesting but not productive.

[Thor_MN]

12. If you are on lake Superior, try a Dipsy Diver to get a lure down lower.

Takes some getting used to, but worth the effort.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. We used a downrigger contraption, which sort of worked.

The problem with fishing while sailing is that it's harder to control your track or your speed and you can't get too close to the shore. We were really going too fast (about 4 knots) to attract any but the larger fish, which there weren't any of where we were (Lake Pepin). You also get tangled up in stuff. Too much work.

[BainsBane]

4. I'm glad I filled up last weekend

I wasn't going to cause prices were so high but ended up letting it fill up while I washed my windows. Gas it up 50 cents a gallon since then. I hope it goes down before I need to fill up again about two weeks from now.

That 40 gal tank is going to cost a mint to fill. I'd get just a few gallons and see what happens.

[Turbineguy]

5. It's all part of

teh Gay Agenda!

[Sherman A1]

7. Wouldn't have anything to do with

prices getting jacked up as usual shortly before Memorial Day or would it?

[Archae]

9. Pric e of gas here in Wisconsin has jumped too.

$3.75 a gallon.

[BainsBane]

10. 4.29 here

In the Twin Cities.

[Thor_MN]

13. St. Louis Park had $4.49. $4.39 in Fridley.

Crazy

[BainsBane]

14. Ouch

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Eek. I saw $4.19 in my area (S. Minneapolis) and that's bad enough.

[Mr. X]

17. Varies in my state.

Arkansas.

Depending on where your at, the price varies from 3.15 to 4.29.

My town it's at ~3.30 a gal.

[BainsBane]

18. Two Midwest refineries have closed for repairs

according to the news, and that has left us with the highest gas prices in the country.

[Thor_MN]

20. The article I saw said 4 refineries are affected.

And none are really that close to Minnesota.

outages and extended maintenance has curbed output at refineries in Joliet, Ill., Whiting, Ind; Tulsa, Okla, and Eldorado, Kansas.

[BainsBane]

21. If they supply gas to this area

It could explain the rise. They said the Twin Cities' prices are the highest in the whole country!

[Thor_MN]

23. From what I know, most of the gas for Minnesota is from the Koch refinery in Rosemount.

There's a refinery in North Dakota and one in Superior, Wisconsin supply most of the rest. The idled refineries are too far away to normally supply gas to Minnesota. That's not to say that Flint Hills (Koch subsidiary) isn't selling supplies literally down the river.

What I don't get is why prices are through the roof here, while the are lower in the areas that have refineries that are not producing. Local supply should be unaffected, in fact crude should be cheaper in the midwest as the other refineries that "compete" are using less. Prices should be high where finished gas is less available, not where is is being produced normally.

[winter is coming]

19. Our gas prices just went up, too.

We're gonna get marriage equality!!