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Gas prices still not in line with oil market

by Tina Kells | September 18, 2008 at 03:21 pm | 435 views | 9 comments | 28 recommendations

No matter which party you support, every Canadian should applaud Liberal MP Dan McTeague for trying to protect consumers from the oil companies. McTeague has made it a personal mission to "watchdog" gas prices, and he does a valiant job.

Hurricane Ike hysteria led to a sudden surge in the price of gas, in Canada and the United States, renewing calls in both countries for some sort of government intervention. Leading the charge is Canada was our friend Dan McTeague.

Now that gas prices are going back down, oil company spin doctors would have people believe that some consumer gratitude is in order. But before you rush off to pen a thank you note to big oil, take a good look at the real state of gas price affairs.

In June of 2008, when the price of oil reached an all time high of $147 US per barrel, the price at the pump in Canada hovered around $1.15 per litre. At the height of Ike's impact on Texas, the per barrel price of oil was only $98 US, yet the price at the pump had soared to $1.50 or more in some parts of Canada.

Currently the price for oil is sitting at around $95 US, yet gs prices are still higher than what they were when a barrel was worth $147 US. According to McTeague, the price of gas in Canada should be at least 20 cents less per litre than is currently being charged at the pump.

Damage to oil refineries from Hurricane Ike was not as bad as feared, and so the prices at the pump should drop more, said an outraged Mr. Mc-Teague, who accused the government and "big oil" of gouging consumers.

As the price of oil closed below $100 for the first time in the markets since March 4 -- down $5.47 at $95.71 -- he said pump prices are a long way off from matching the drop in crude oil. "It should be down 19¢ because the oil industry has been taking 10¢ more a litre at the wholesale level," he said.

"How do you maintain a 20¢ premium over market prices? There is nothing to challenge those bloated, unjustified and sickening margins."

The Liberal candidate for Pickering-Scarborough East said the government should knock the GST off the increased price -- which he said generates a $2-billion dollar windfall for the Conservative government -- to create an independent body to monitor the market prices.

"There has been no hurricane in Canada and the prices have fallen [in the United States] and if they have fallen there, then everything that was taken has been given back ... but in Canada we are still owed another 10¢ a litre and then another 10 after that," he said.

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apple_jamz

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:58 on September 18th, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff.

sehgalviveka

at 19:17 on September 18th, 2008

good stuff

LotusFlower

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 23:38 on September 18th, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff. Yes the financial markets rather than supply and demand and real price seem to rule the way - good story

politisite

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:13 on September 19th, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff. I know there is about a 6 week lag in oil prices and gas prices. But the trends are not right as you have indicated here.

Cienega Soon

at 00:36 on September 20th, 2008

As with the Burning Man project annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
I too have contributed to Second Life® Burning Life project with my entry "Oil Pigs" Oil companies despicable GREED! Not to mention the side effects! More pictures of this entry will be posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cienega_soon/
Burning Life opens Sept 27th - Oct 5th 2008

Cienega Soon has contributed a photo to this story.

altrugon

at 09:36 on October 1st, 2008

I get mad every time I have to fill my car.

They change the gas price hourly, as if the product would be different or would have increase it's original price in the last 30min. Then you ask to the workers at the gas station, but everything they say is "we just follow orders".

It's clearly a robbery but you can't prove it! You have to be a good guy and swallow it while you see how "they" put their hands into your pockets and take everything and more.

Sure, the alternative is not to use the car but is not just the car. The prices of everything had increased because the gas, the BC ferry tickets are more expensive, the airlines keep going into bankruptcy one after another.

I thought about get a donkey for transportation but there is not place where I can park him outside of my apartment, and the poo collection it would be a big issue :P

Fairbanks

at 09:48 on October 1st, 2008

Everything is the price of oil. The reason there is all this Washington activity about bailouts is because of the price of oil. But oil isn't going to ever be cheap again. Electric cars, steam locomotives, and sailing ships are on the way, but cheap anything is not.

René

at 10:04 on October 1st, 2008

Guess the big oil CEOs were hoping you wouldn't notice with all the bailout outrage and the housing bubble popping. They want their 'golden parachutes' too.

Dan Sutherland (not verified)

at 04:21 on October 17th, 2008

As long as any Gov. reaps a windfall of two BILLION on the bloated price of gas at the pumps, we Canadians will be ripped off. The fox is guarding the hen house big time.

I'm amazed that gas prices was not a major issue during the last election!!

We Canadians are way too polite and should stand up to these crooks, fraud and price fixing is a crime.