MontanaWithKids.com

Bob and the Elvis Girls at the Viva Elvis show in Las Vegas

Dateline: Terry, Montana
By: Bob van der Valk
March 3, 2010

The sad truth is I worship my heroes from afar with the hopes that some day I will get to meet them and tell them how they made a difference in my life. Condoleezza Rice is one those people and strange but true so is Elvis. (more…)

By: Bob van der Valk

With all the talk about curbing oil demand oil producers should be thinking twice about investing in new capacity. Consumers should rejoice and environmentalists will lament because the immediate alternative will still be some product made from fossil fuel. (more…)

Tithing

Dateline: Terry, Montana
By: Bob van der Valk
November 18, 2009

Headline on page A1 in this morning’s New York Times reads “$500 Million and Apology From Goldman”. In the article, by Graham Bowley, he outlines the response to criticism over their planned year-end bonuses. Goldman Sachs said it was working with the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett in a $500 million project to help 10,000 small businesses.

This charitable move by Goldman Sachs came a little more than a week after Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s chairman and chief executive, was quoted as saying that they were “doing God’s work”. The $500 million represents only 3 percent of the $16.7 billion in bonuses set aside to pay its employees this year. (more…)

Dateline: Terry, Montana
October 26, 2009 10:30 AM MDT
By: Bob van der Valk

The two teams for the upcoming World Series of crude oil have been decided. The first team is made up of speculators and hedge fund advisors with the other team made up of the major and independent oil companies. The final outcome of this game between the Wall Street Titans and the Texas Oil Barons will decide the winner or loser, in this case the gasoline customer. Please read the remainder of this article on the player statistics after some local news about Montana fuel prices. (more…)

Goldman Sachs is lining its pockets buying political power

Dateline: Terry, Montana
October 22, 2009 4:00 AM MDT
By: Bob van der Valk

On October 21, 2009, in his remarks at the OTC Derivatives Regulation, Futures Industry Association Expo in Chicago, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler proposed that hedge funds, financial firms or other investment funds not be exempted from clearing requirements and all standardized OTC products should be moved onto regulated exchanges or trade execution facilities.

The CFTC also recommended changes to its oversight authority, including implementation of the “Eddie Murphy” rule, taken from the 1983 comedy movie “Trading Places”. The CFTC will extend insider trader prohibitions to include parties who receive misappropriated information from any government agency. This will be known and is referred to as the “Eddie Murphy” rule. (more…)

The Gas Guy dressed up for Halloween 2009

Dateline: Terry, Montana
October 19, 2009 2:00 PM MDT
By: Bob van der Valk

Don’t be scared when you look at the prices you are paying at the pump right now for gasoline and diesel. This winter fuel prices both gasoline and diesel will reach the same low price levels as last year.

In Montana and in the rest of the U.S., we are now already paying about 45 cents per gallon less for fuel than we did last year. Gasoline in Montana is currently averaging $2.59 with the price last year at $3.04 per gallon. (more…)

Paul and Linda Nygard from Billings, Montana enjoying breakfast at the Badlands Cafe and Scoop Shoppe in Terry, Montana before hunting antelope in Prairie County

The van der Valk Eastern Montana Gas Price Advisory for 10-12-09

Dateline: Terry, Montana
By: Bob van der Valk
October 12, 2009 9:30 AM MDT

Hunters have been arriving in Terry by the droves since last week Friday in time for the start of the annual hunting season. They will be after herds of antelopes, which have propagated thanks to the great summer weather greening up the prairies.

They have also enjoyed seeing lower gas prices to fill up their trucks, vans and SUVs while driving to Terry from as far away as Minnesota and Idaho. The Four-Corner gas station in Terry is selling regular unleaded gasoline for only $2.479 per gallon this morning. (more…)

The lull before the storm for gasoline prices

Dateline: Issaquah, Washington
By: Bob van der Valk
August 28, 2009 9:00 AM PDT

Right now there is a tropical depression named Terry (after my hometown in Montana) but it is slowly becoming a storm and will then turn into a full fledged hurricane. Of course, I am referring to what is happening with gasoline pump prices. The average price of gasoline over the last seven days has not changed precipitously but that is quickly changing on the oil market weather map. The AAA Fuel Gauge report shows the national average price of self-serve regular gas is $2.613 per gallon on Friday, down just over a penny from a week ago. The national average price of diesel fuel is $2.697 a gallon, up just over a penny. (more…)

Dateline: Terry, Montana
August 24, 2009
By: Bob van der Valk

The October West Texas Intermediate crude oil price went up to $74.37 a barrel at the settlement today. We have not seen the price of crude oil hit that mark since last October. This current up tick is the result of the bearish Energy Information Administration – Department of Energy (DOE) and American Petroleum Institute (API) inventory reports published earlier in the week. Both reports reflected huge unanticipated draws for all products including crude oil for the week ending August 14, 2009. (more…)

Dateline: Terry, Montana
August 10, 2009 12.30 PM MDT
By: Bob van der Valk

Gas prices are up 14 cents per gallon in the last 10 days across the country but crude oil has remained steady around $70 a barrel since the beginning of July. The American Petroleum Institute’s spokesman John Felmy would like you to reason that when the price of crude oil fluctuates up or down, it will have the same affect on the pump price for gasoline. However, that has not been the case so far in 2009. (more…)

The van der Valk Gas Price Advisory for July 10, 2009

Dateline: Terry, Montana
July 10, 2009 – 11:30 AM – MDT
By: Bob van der Valk

California pump prices for gasoline dropped unpretentiously today another 7 tenths of a penny per gallon overnight to $2.926 per gallon. Montana prices were even less newsworthy only going down 3 tenths to $2.707 per gallon per the AAA fuelgauge report. But underneath the surface, sharks are lurking and they will come to bite you in the wallet when you are not watching out. (more…)

The price of crude oil has been hovering around $70 a barrel for the last week meanwhile gasoline pump prices in the U.S. and Canada are down by about a nickel a gallon or 1 cent per litre during that same time. The average price for a gallon of gasoline is $2.63 today per the AAA fuelguage report. Montana’s gasoline prices are averaging $2.71 barely nudging down from a week ago price. (more…)

April showers may bring May flowers but this year it also brought forth a spring time renewal for oil refiner’s profits. This was in the form of increased demand for gasoline after dismal first quarter results in 2009. But now the June swoon has come too soon and the oil companies are looking forward to those summer breezes peeking just around the corner. (more…)

While the market sorted itself out yesterday, I was busy trying to keep from running out of water at the Bob’s Big Boy Ranch in Terry, Montana. At one point we not only had our artesian well down but our hard water well had shut down as well. Unexpectedly, we had to make a quick trip and run out to the Terry Super Valu grocery store to stock up on bottled water. We may well be having a similar problem happening right now in the refining and petroleum business. (more…)

Terry, Montana – My wife and I recently struck up a conversation with a very nice elderly couple while shopping and waiting in line to have some fabric cut at the Jo-Ann store in Bellevue, Washington. The wait was almost 45 minutes so we had plenty of time to discuss various subjects. Our conversation quickly turned to the state or our economy after comparing how many years each of us have been married to our spouses. (more…)

It is Cinco de Mayo in the US to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride. We also commemorate this day in Holland as Bevrijdingsdag or Liberation Day. It is celebrated each year on May 5th in the Netherlands (the official name for Holland) to mark the end of the Nazi occupation during World War II. (more…)

The May WTI crude oil price is up 35 cents to $50.33 a barrel at the close today. On the US West Coast the wholesale spot market price for gasoline and diesel went up 2 cents per gallon in concert with crude oil.

It’s another day – same old story in the petroleum markets. (more…)

THE VAN DER VALK GAS PRICE ADVISORY FOR 3-27-09 – West Texas Intermediate crude oil price settled at $54.37 a barrel yesterday, up from below $32 just after New Year’s Day this year. Wholesale and retail diesel prices have increased 2.5 cents per gallon almost in lockstep for each one dollar increase in the price for a barrel of oil. There are 42 gallons in a barrel of crude oil. (more…)

THE VAN DER VALK GAS PRICE ADVISORY FOR 3-25-09 – The quote by William Shakespeare is one of the Bard’s best and something will come of something in the petroleum industry with all that is happening in the petroleum market today. Crude oil prices were lower earlier this morning but are expected to go back up after the release of a bullish “durable goods” report. A 14-month high for February 2009 was reported by the US Department of Commerce that durable goods orders increased 3.4% to $165.6 billion in the latest month. (more…)

The van der Valk Gas Price Advisory for 3-20-09. Once again it’s back to Bob the Gas Guy in rainy Seattle from being Cowboy Bob in Big Sky country Montana. But gasoline pump prices have not changed very much during the two weeks I was gone. (more…)

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Wednesday he will speak to OPEC ministers before their meeting this weekend and warn them as they consider another oil production cut that high crude oil prices will harm the fragile world economy. That is the same “pity line” used on OPEC by the Bush administration last year when crude oil prices spiked up to $147 a barrel in order to get them to increase oil production thereby lowering oil prices. (more…)

The WTI crude oil price gained $1.50 a barrel yesterday with news about more rebel attacks on Shell facilities in Nigeria. There was also more speculation swirling around that OPEC will cut additional production at their March 15th meeting in Vienna, Austria. The up note in energy markets was contrary to the continued weakness in the equity markets, which were all dangerously close to forming fresh lows again yesterday. (more…)

THE VAN DER VALK GAS PRICE ADVISORY FOR MARCH 3, 2009 – Yesterday was a Blue Monday or should we say Black Monday for the stock and petroleum markets but Tuesday we were humming a different tune. What goes up must come down, Spinning wheel got to go ’round, Talkin’ ’bout your troubles, it’s a cryin sin, Ride a painted pony, let your spinning wheel spin . . . . .
(more…)

Hope springs eternal for motorists with West Coast spot market pipeline diesel and gasoline prices down 3 cents per gallon this morning. But this is just an adjustment of the big upward momentum in prices of the last two days for these two products with diesel up 7 cents and gasoline up 16 cents per gallon.
(more…)

THE VAN DER VALK GAS PRICE ADVISORY FOR 2-26-09 – There is good news or bad news these days depending on which side of the fence you are dealing in the petroleum market. The April WTI crude oil price surged back over $44 a barrel on Thursday. This was mainly due to The United American Emirates cutting back on some more oil exports to Asia in anticipation of the March OPEC meeting.
(more…)

A wicked combination of negative economic news from around the world has pushed crude oil back under the critical benchmark of $35 a barrel. While some analysts suggest prices will immediately rebound, others are looking at the dismal global forecasts, unusually high reserves and an apparent absence of OPEC control… some are predicting that oil will hit $32/barrel within a week, and $20/barrel within a month. Here are the reasons they’re probably right, and why it’s a good thing.
(more…)