Since I travel a lot, I have steadfastly kept a table of gas prices since college. Mostly, this was to calculate my mileage. However, as time went on, the chart became less of a personal measurement and more a log of just how insane the price increases were. I am also able to “control” the variables by filling up at the same gas station most of the time.
Here’s what the list price was for super unleaded (10% ethanol blend, 89 octane) at that gas station the past eight years on the date(s) nearest October 1.
- October 1, 2004: $1.829
- October 7, 2005: $2.769
- October 1, 2006: $1.939
- October 2, 2007: $2.499
- October 3, 2008: $3.099, down from $3.459 three weeks earlier. But by November 1, as the economy came crashing down, it was $1.899. It’s astounding to see both the rising and falling “in real time” from this year’s chart.
- September 26, 2009: $2.199 / October 14, 2009: $2.329
- October 1, 2010: $2.529
- October 1, 2011: $3.149
Today, it’s $3.699, which by my data set is the highest price ever seen in October — twice as much as 2004 and 55 cents higher than last year.