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Gas prices are rising while crude prices are falling. What gives?
% D6 V. ^4 F( D9 ?Published: Friday, January 16, 2009 | 5:11 PM ET
/ o: G6 B5 f8 W! C% FCanadian Press NewsItem/NewsComponent/NewsLines/ByLine
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CALGARY - With crude oil prices falling, motorists may wonder why gasoline prices are heading in the other direction.
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The average Canadian pump price rose to around 81.75 cents per litre Friday - more than three cents more than a week ago, according to the price-tracking website Gasbuddy.com.
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) W% {# j' M3 }Calgarians were paying on average 81.5 cents per litre - about a four-cent jump in just one day.
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"I don't actually understand it and I do work in the oil and gas industry, so I'm perplexed about it," said Paul Lawnikanis as he filled up his truck at a Calgary Esso station, which was selling gas for 80.4 cents per litre.
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" \: m. |9 p, O+ V1 I! W/ D1 I6 Y. D2 fBut Friday's price is still a welcome respite from the $1.40-level gas many Canadian cities faced during the summer.
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1 {$ ?2 [- ]5 [; ?8 X1 V6 R"I definitely changed my habits in the summer. I was going to go on two road trips, which I did not go on by virtue of the fact that the prices were so high," Lawnikanis said.
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' p& I; C# R: S"Because of the fact that the prices are so reasonable, I've actually taken the liberty to drive more. I've really enjoyed doing more driving."
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In Toronto Friday, pump prices were 80.9 cents per litre. On Thursday they were 79.4 and a week ago they were 74.2." Z8 b: i9 v& D/ i8 x; N
9 T; ~. e/ {2 \# ^# p2 o- \8 m7 BVancouver, which has higher gas taxes than other cities, has prices of 94.7 per litre, up from 87.5 a week ago.
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The price of crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline, has been dropping steeply since it's peak of $147 reached in July.
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The February contract for crude oil settled at US$36.51 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from more than US$50 a barrel a week ago.7 L3 x# \+ z# u7 _0 @
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"Crude oil is an important input into the distillation of gasoline. But there's a lot of other factors as well," said Todd Hirsch, senior economist with ATB Financial in Calgary.
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Industry players would say they have to account for transportation, marketing and other expenses - not to mention taxes, which vary from province to province.
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3 d/ v* D4 i% M" y/ L, ?But those oil companies - private-sector players in a free-market system - also want to turn a profit.
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3 W) p! K+ W2 d/ Z"Without question those gasoline prices are going to be the highest they think they can get away with without their competitor undercutting them," said Hirsch.
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"They're out to maximize their profits for their shareholders. I don't think there's anything evil going on in them trying to get the highest price. Every retailer in the country does this."& ~. n, T2 d, x/ h& q. x
+ V6 l8 Z5 ]% K7 i% v5 LAnother explanation could be that the February contract for crude oil expires on Tuesday, and the contract for March is already significantly higher, settling at $42.57 on Friday.! I' L* J+ N8 ^
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"(The oil companies) might have realized that while prices were low in the last couple of weeks, they knew that there was going to be a correction," Hirsch said.
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5 a8 |% }/ C: H$ {Hirsch expects pump prices to bounce between 60 and 90 cents per litre over the next few months, but not retesting the heights of last summer.
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: r# W. P, z# U# c"I'm not seeing a lot of strengthening in crude oil prices over the next six months," he said./ |' D$ J7 @5 f3 V y
' M& d* E% E) J"In the next six months I would expect to see gasoline prices more or less in the range they're in now, maybe firming up a little bit towards the spring and summer driving season as demand rises."7 I2 s. ]$ D& V% M. x
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But Gasbuddy.com co-founder Jason Toews said he sees gas prices going higher than their current levels because of a slowdown in Alberta's oilsands and expected production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exploring Countries.
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: z5 @, j# U2 ]1 q8 N"With lower supplies of crude oil in the market it's going to push crude oil prices up, especially if the economy starts to recover a little bit," Toews said.% O& D' F5 Z& j/ s e" F) J, j
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"Once the summer demand for gasoline comes, we're going to see gas prices go up quite a bit from where they are right now. We're going to see a return of a $1 per litre gas for sure and we may even see up to $1.20 per litre." |
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发表于 2009-1-16 19:10
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