The senseless rise and fall of gas prices

Photos

$3.559 (August 12, 2008)

see larger image

uploaded by cole800

• 

  uploaded by cole800 | add comment

• 

  uploaded by kakarotoni | add comment

• 

  uploaded by travel_photography | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Suzie T | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Christopher B. Romeo Photography | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Network Geek | add comment

• 

  uploaded by MarkinDetroit | add comment

• 

  uploaded by GtrGeorge | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Brent and MariLynn | add comment

• 

  uploaded by phot0prime | add comment

Can the politicians please step up to the plate and address the senseless rise and fall of gas prices in North America?  With elections ongoing in both Canada and the United States, how is the apparent price gouging by gas companies not at the top of the campaign agenda?

Last week, as Ike loomed over Texas, gas prices shot up overnight, reaching more than $5 per gallon in some parts of the United States.  Canada didn't fair much better, with prices increasing as much as 20 cents per litre in some cities. The price surge came despite major developments in the oil futures market that should have seen prices relax.

In the same week that Ike threatened Texas refineries, Brazil announced the discovery of a major off-shore oil deposit, and Saudi Arabia walked out of OPEC talks refusing to cut back its share of oil production.  While the full extent of Ike's impact on the oil industry was still unknown, these two known factors should have easily kept the industry on steady economic ground. 

Last week there was no logical reason to immediately and drastically raise the price of gas at the pump because of what Ike might do.  Now that Ike has passed through Texas without wreaking the havoc that was anticipated, why have gas prices been slow to come back down? Why have prices still not returned to pre-Ike levels?

The current price of a barrel of oil is at a low, reaching $92 at the end of trading on Monday, and is expected to continue its decline.  In fact, as the Ike threat was being paraded around by gas companies as necessitating an immediate rise in prices at the pump, the cost of a barrel of oil was dipping below the $100 mark for the first time in months.

Now that the dust from Ike has truly settled consumers are being handed a paltry nine cents per litre decrease by the gas companies.  Although current market forces clearly dictate that prices should be below what they were before the Ike hysteria, they still remain higher.

The gas companies have fully capitalized on Ike; literally taking a mile and giving back an inch when it comes to the price of gas.  Politicians can't help but take notice, with Canadian Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper even using the term "price gouging" when asked about his take on the situation.

As the North American election campaigns heat up it is time that the ongoing saga of rising gas prices in both Canada and the United States made the top of the list of campaign issues.   Voters should be worrying less about the personal scandals of those in the running and more about the issues that really impact their daily lives.