Source: Phoenix Finance
As soon as the hour hand pointed to 17:30, Wang Qing rushed downstairs. After 25 minutes, she rode home on a shared bicycle and went straight to the community garage. At this moment, she was extremely glad that she had the habit of carrying her car keys with her.
It was still a step too late, and when Wang Qing drove her car to the nearest gas station to her home as fast as possible, there was already a long queue at the door.
At 24:00 on March 17, the adjustment of the retail price of domestic refined oil products began again.
According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the domestic gasoline and diesel prices were raised by 750 yuan and 720 yuan per ton respectively. Equivalent to the price increase, No. 92 gasoline, No. 95 gasoline, No. 0 diesel per liter increased by 0.59, 0.62, 0.61 yuan respectively. This means that No. 95 gasoline officially broke through the 9 yuan mark.
Taking Beijing as an example, the latest oil price of Sinopec (Beijing) shows that the adjusted price of No. 92 gasoline is 8.65 yuan / L, and the No. 95 gasoline is rising to 9.21 yuan / L.
Previously, the price adjustment on March 3 allowed No. 92 and No. 95 gasoline to fully enter the 8 yuan era.
Gas stations across the country have been busy since the early hours of the day before the price adjustment. "I haven't met so many people on holidays." At 24:00 on March 16, the night shift staff at the gas station took down the oil guns of the No. 92 gasoline vehicle while complaining about their "bitter" night shift.
The staff on the day shift (leaving work at 17:00) considered themselves extremely lucky, "There are no people on the day shift these days, and I have not encountered the picture they (night shift colleagues) said." ”
Behind the busyness of the gas station is the need of hordes of fuel car owners to fill the fuel tank before the price increase; they feel that filling up a tank of fuel is the last hard cost saved before the 9 yuan oil price comes.
To this end, some car owners do not hesitate to wait in line for 2 hours.
Many car owners have also announced that after the increase in oil prices, their main travel methods will be changed to buses/subways or small electric donkeys, "as if they are contributing to carbon neutrality."
For some fuel ride-hailing drivers and freight drivers, rising oil prices mean that the days are more difficult.
"Today I received 6 orders, (income) 300 yuan, and the days are getting more and more difficult." Even if refueling only takes a few minutes, the same city freight driver Lao Ma also has to get off the car and complain to his peers who come to refuel, "The list is getting less and less, the price of oil has been rising, and it really can't run." ”
Every time the price of oil rises, it hurts the owners of fuel vehicles, some people change to public transportation, some people change new energy vehicles, and some people directly step on bicycles.
But in this era that has been inseparable from the wheel, "oil pain" has been an unavoidable pain for a long time.
Queue for 2 hours and grab the last 8 yuan oil price
"An hour late and then make an appointment, you change the appointment, after work I will rush to the gas station first, and then do not refuel on 9 yuan." In order to cheer up, Wang Qing decided to postpone her date with her girlfriend after work.
Wang Qing's car is a Guangdong license plate JEEP commander, fuel tank capacity of 70L, according to the latest price adjustment, Guangdong No. 95 gasoline 9.39 yuan / liter price calculation, compared to the first time in 2022 (January 17) adjusted oil price, to fill a tank of fuel, it takes about 93 yuan more.
"Once 600 yuan to open for 2 months, this time to open for 4 months, only on rainy days." Wang Qing teased.
In the evening before the price adjustment, gas stations in many areas "reproduced" the scene of charging queues in the 2021 National Day high-speed service area.
Many regions line up long, picture source Weibo platform
"In the 6 years I've been on the job, I've never seen a time when there's so much traffic like I have now." A Sinopec gas station staff sighed.
This behavior also affected traffic near gas stations, causing long-term traffic congestion. Among them, the Ningbo traffic police issued an early warning at 18:00 on the afternoon of the 16th: "Affected by the adjustment of oil prices, the traffic around the gas station is currently busy, and the vehicles at the Yinzhou Petrochemical Gas Station on the Yonglin Line are long queues." ”
Official screenshot of Ningbo traffic police
On Weibo, some car owners sent videos complaining that they had queued up 3 intersections. After 2 hours, it was successfully filled with No. 95 gasoline.
Some gas station stocks have even been emptied, and some car owners said that they have been notified that no. 92 and No. 95 gasoline are sold out even if they run 2 gas stations.
Interestingly, compared with the time node of the price adjustment at 24:00 on March 17, most car owners chose to queue up to refuel on the evening of the 16th.
On the evening of the 16th, the reporter of Phoenix WEEKLY Finance visited a number of PetroChina and Sinopec gas stations in Beijing, and found that many stations were queuing, and the unanimous appeal of the owners was: fill up the fuel tank.
"Everyone is coming, stay up late and queue up to fill up and go again." At 10 p.m., the owners at the end of the line gritted their teeth.
On the evening of the 16th, the gas station queue was obvious
Some car owners also said that they came to refuel on the 16th to avoid encountering a more congested situation on the 17th.
However, on the 17th, the reporter found that the gas station that was congested the previous day was only a small number of car owners at the moment through observation throughout the day, which was in stark contrast to the previous day.
On the 17th, many gas stations were empty
"Many car owners who came to refuel before the 16th mistakenly thought that the price increase was 24:00 at night, so no one came to refuel the next day." A staff member at the gas station said.
These signs can also be found online. On major social platforms, compared with the 16th, netizens' sharing of refueling the next day was greatly reduced.
Perhaps Wang Qing's action speed is fast enough, she queued up for 1 hour to fill up 95 gasoline, and the price in exchange was to "pigeon" her girlfriend.
"Next time the oil price rises by 2 yuan, I don't want to grab it, the queue is too tired." Wang Qing, who was severely criticized by his girlfriend, decided to change his follow-up behavior.
This kind of rush to refueling behavior is not understood by many people. "The time, effort and oil spent waiting in line for an hour or two are worth the money from rising oil prices." What is the point of refueling? ”
In the eyes of the owners in line, cost is one thing, and herd psychology is another reason.
"It's not necessary to save these dozens of dollars, everyone went to grab it, and I followed." Some car owners retorted this.
New energy is really fragrant, and public transportation is the most convenient
Although the fuel tank of the car was filled in advance, Wang Qing had already chosen to ride a bicycle when commuting to work.
"You can get to the company in 20 minutes, don't worry about traffic jams on the road, and you can lose weight by cycling." After repeating these words 100 times, Wang Qing parked her JEEP Commander at home and only used them as a holiday long-distance trip or when encountering bad weather.
After no parental subsidies, Wang Qing's salary can support daily expenses. Recently, oil prices have continued to rise, making it difficult for her to cope with oil costs.
The accommodation is only 5 km from the unit, so she thinks it is most appropriate to commute to work instead of driving.
It is not only Wang Qing's car that has been snubbed, but also many people who have said that from the 18th, they should be prepared to eat ashes for a long time.
Some car owners said on the Internet that they had parked their cars in the basement and covered them with shade nets, "Sending children to school with a small electric donkey is enough." ”
There are also owners in the early morning of the 18th to post a purchase of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV documents, and with the text: "The No. 95 oil price is no longer allowed to drive oil trucks, and will soon become a distinguished new energy owner, the old man Le Zhenxiang." ”
Corresponding to the rise in oil prices, new energy vehicles are rubbing hot spots again.
Under the influence of oil prices, the sales of new energy vehicles have taken advantage of the opportunity to promote pure electric vehicles in the circle of friends, and some sales have said, "Compared with the high oil prices, buying a tram is the most suitable choice." ”
On the morning of March 18, the reporter of Phoenix WEEKLY Finance called to consult the Wuling Hongguang 4S store, and the sales said that the MINI EV long-endurance version needed to wait for 1 month, mainly due to the tight supply.
However, some analysts pointed out that in the current context, pure electric cars may not be the best choice.
Due to the continuous impact of raw material price increases, recently, more than 20 new energy vehicle companies announced the price increase of their models, covering models from low-end cars of tens of thousands of yuan to high-end cars of hundreds of thousands of yuan. There are also media that a large number of new energy vehicles will (again) increase prices in the coming period.
In addition to the price increase storm, many new energy vehicles are also facing months of delivery waiting periods. Under the dual influence of supply chain shortage and rising demand, many car companies have not been able to release the long-standing order volume in 2021 in time.
Among them, the waiting cycle of some popular models even exceeds half a year.
"It's still the most convenient way to get public transportation." Under this comment, more than 500 people agreed.
"Oil price adjustment, maybe you can try to travel by bus?" On the morning of March 17, the official microblog of Sichuan Xichang Yuecheng Bus began to take advantage of the momentum to publicize.
On the same day, Tianjin Metro also took advantage of the official Weibo: "It is still the most reliable to take a low-carbon and fast subway." ”
When the driver earns 20,000 yuan a month, it is better to be a security guard
Zhangjiakou's old horse has been running freight in Beijing for 7 years. At his best, he replaced the old Lingzhi (7-seat MPV) who accompanied him for 5 years with the top gasoline version of the Futian G5 (mid-surface), which cost twice as much as the former.
The second half of 2020 is the "golden" era that belongs to the old horse. With his efforts of 6 to 10 in the morning, a monthly income of 30,000 is not a difficult goal to complete.
Under the influence of the epidemic, the same city freight has ushered in a new round of peaks. The data shows that in 2020, the volume of lala business increased by 50% year-on-year compared with the previous year. Didi also "sniffed" new business opportunities, and in April of the same year, Didi Freight was officially established; its daily orders continued to exceed 100,000 in only 3 months after its launch.
However, the good times were not long, and the popularity of freight in the same city allowed a large number of people to pour into the market, which once caused a situation of labor surplus.
From the second half of 2021, although every day ran to the middle of the night to collect the car to rest, the old horse felt that the amount of hands was still getting less and less every day, and the money in hand was also reduced. Compared with a year ago, he has moved north from Tiantongyuan, where the rent is 2,000 yuan, to the self-built house of a villager in Changping District, saving about 1,000 yuan per month in rent.
"(Compared to the second half of 2020) the cost of each tank of oil is more than 200 yuan higher, what do I take to raise children?" The more the old horse thought about it, the more upset he became, and there was already some choking in his words.
Nowadays, the rise in oil prices has made the old horse think about changing careers. "It's okay to deliver takeaways, my hometown is also in Beijing, and now he earns more than me."
Judging from the five or six same-city freight drivers randomly interviewed by Phoenix WEEKLY Finance, they all shoulder heavy responsibilities, but the contradiction between Beijing's fewer and fewer task lists, rising prices, oil prices and their incomes is getting bigger and bigger.
Several drivers said that if they were in such a predicament in the next few months, they would choose to go back to their hometown or go south to find a new job. ”
Li Dong, whose hometown is Xingtai, Hebei Province, is an "old" online ride-hailing driver.
His friend works as a security guard in Beijing, and he still eats and lives for 8,000 yuan a month. Although his income is more than double that of his friends, the platform will smoke 30% of his fees, and the monthly car rental fee is also 5,000 yuan, plus the high cost of oil, rental costs... Li Dong decided to change careers in the second half of the year and become a security guard.
"Although I can run 20,000 yuan a month, the cost is too high, and the money I can send home every month is 30% off." Li Dong believes that the high price of oil has added another one or two thousand costs. "When the security guard has a fixed commuting time, the salary is pure profit. My sports car is tired and bitter every month and has to bear various costs, and the more I think about it, the less worth it. ”
When asked by reporters whether he was willing to use the tram to run a ride-hailing car to save the cost of sports cars, Li Dongzhi shook his head. "The tram endurance is particularly unfriendly to us, plus we can easily run through the warranty mileage promised by the manufacturer, exceed the warranty, repair the car is a big problem, and the fuel money saved is not enough to repair the car, so we can not touch it without touching it."
Although the high oil prices have "scared" many people off, the authorities said that this is not the norm.
On March 17, the relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission said that if the international oil price continues to rise, but does not exceed 130 US dollars per barrel, the domestic refined oil price is adjusted normally according to the mechanism; if it is higher than 130 US dollars per barrel, according to the provisions of the "Oil Price Management Measures", in accordance with the principle of taking into account the interests of producers and consumers and maintaining the smooth operation of the national economy, appropriate fiscal and tax policies are adopted to ensure the production and supply of refined oil, and the prices of gasoline and diesel are not mentioned or less mentioned in principle.
Looking ahead to the future, the Price Monitoring Center of the National Development and Reform Commission expects that both supply and demand factors will have an impact on oil prices in the short term, and the situation in Russia and Ukraine is still the biggest uncertainty affecting oil prices.
On the whole, oil prices will be dominated by shock operations in the later period, and if Russia and Ukraine reach an armistice agreement, oil prices will still have a relatively large room for decline.