Petrol Pump Prices Painfully Profane!

[Kurt_eh]

C B C . C A N e w s - F u l l S t o r y :
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Gas prices soar above $1
Last Updated Wed, 17 Aug 2005 12:03:05 EDT
CBC News
For the first time ever, Canadians are paying more than $1 a litre for regular gasoline on average.

'They'll basically grin and bear it. Well, maybe they won't grin, but they'll bear it,' said economist Doug Porter.
On Tuesday, regular self-serve gas was going for about $1.14 per litre in Montreal, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and $1.21 a litre in remote Labrador communities.

The lowest average prices are in Edmonton at 93.3 cents, according to M.J. Ervin & Associates, a Calgary firm that tracks retail fuel prices.


Drivers across the country are now paying an average of more than $1.04 per litre for regular unleaded gasoline, the firm says.

"The biggest factor playing into the current pump price is, without a doubt, the high crude oil prices," Cathy Hay, a senior associate with M.J. Ervin, said. "But layering in on top of that is very strong gasoline demand and a decline in inventories."

Surging oil demand and ongoing political concerns in the Middle East forced crude oil to new record levels each day of trading last week. Prices have come off slightly this week, but closed at $66.08 US a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange - a full $20 US higher than one year ago.

Yet despite the 43 per cent ramp-up in the price of oil, demand for refined fuels like gasoline continues to increase year over year.

Statistics from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration show a two per cent increase in demand in the first seven months of 2005 over last year. Since Canada is part of a North American energy market, a similar trend is likely occurring here.

Doug Porter, a deputy chief economist with the Bank of Montreal, says consumers aren't likely to change their driving or purchasing habits overnight even if costs have increased substantially.

"They'll basically grin and bear it. Well, maybe they won't grin, but they'll bear it," said Porter.

"And so far we really haven't seen any response whatsoever on the consumer spending front."

Federal Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Ottawa could easily reduce the price of gasoline by two to five cents a litre. He renewed his call for the federal government to stop double-taxing gasoline through the GST.

Harper said Ottawa could also reduce its surtax on gasoline, introduced in the mid-1990s, as a deficit-fighting measure. Natural Resources Minister John Efford rejected the notion yesterday, saying it would do nothing to ease the pain at the pumps.

The travel sector is one of the first to bear the brunt of higher fuel costs, which is then spread to customers.

For example, both Air Canada and WestJet Airlines levied fuel surcharges last week, which was the second time in two months that the carriers raised base-level ticket costs to help cover fuel expenses.

Soon, the higher cost of transportation will likely cause the price of many things we buy and eat to rise.

"There's no doubt that the increasing fuel prices are going to add to the cost of food - domestically and import," said Dan Dempster, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association. "There's just no way around that because people won't stay in business."


Copyright ©2005 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/2005/08/17/gas_prices_20050817.html

And a quick conversion: That's > $4.00 cdn($3.30USD)/Gallon! :eek:

[AgentSun]

gas prices are about 2.59-2.81 here in Virginia. Sigh.

[Kurt_eh]

In recent news, HumVee has offered a new gas tank option with their H2 and H3 sales, as a $10,000 extra!

[tacklingmonkey]

what pisses me off is here in the U.S. we always here about middle east problems then BAM oil prices sky rocket. When in fact the United States obtains most of is crude oil from South American countries, and even then Saudi Arabia our "ally" in the middle east is by far the largest oil producer in that region with 8-9 million barrels a day.
Call me a conspiracy theorist or whatever you will, but I feel like we are getting screwed at the pumps while rich bastards laugh at us.

[BrowderChick]

Its about $2.69 a gal here. :mad:

[vhsiv]

And $3.30 in USD.

$1.00 Canadian Dollar = $0.824570 United States Dollars

$0.824570
X 4
$3.29828 (http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=4%20*%200.824570).

fawk!

[LiLOrion]

I just paid $2.65/gallon for mine. That wasnt the cheapest gas in the area, but the cheaper gas makes my car act strange.


Call me a conspiracy theorist or whatever you will, but I feel like we are getting screwed at the pumps while rich bastards laugh at us.

I dont really understand the rising prices either, but then again, I havent actively tried to search for the answer cause I'm afraid my head might explode.

I was watching something yesterday that claimed if the US could refine crude oil (or whatever the oil is that is cheaper, but harder to refine) the prices would go down (in the short term anyway). But there isnt a refinery presently that can handle that job. That, and nobody wants an oil refinery in their backyard anyways.
Some dude is trying to get a new refinery out west somewhere and its taken him 15 years and they still havent broken ground yet. He's hoping to have it up and running by 2010.

[frellyou]

Hopefully it'll go to $6.00 for a gallon. Maybe then we can end our over dependance on crude oil.

[tacklingmonkey]

Look at the people in power they own oil companies. Condoleezza Rice has an Exxon tanker named after her. Until we can separate the people in power from the businesses that supply power there will be no changes.
We have alternatives to oil but they are not being explored as adequately as they should be.
Also if the U.S. really wanted to protect itself from terrorism long term we would invest in oil alternative power if we make oil worthless then most of the funding for terrorism which comes from Saudis would dry up as a result.
However, I feel as if the government has fallen into another gilded age in which presidents and legislatures are puppets of big corporations. We need another Teddy, Taft, or Wilson.

[trubador]

For fuel prices today to reach the equivalent of what it cost during the so-called gas shortage of the late-70s/early-80s, today's price of gas would have to reach $3.50/gallon. Given that (unlike 25 years ago) we are at WAR in the middle east, I can deal with the slight up-tick in fuel prices (approx. $2.75/gallon where i live)....... it's worth my freedom from terrorist a**h*les (all IMHO, of course). ;)

[who45]

Around here it's been about $2.27 to $2.29

[eta_carinae]

You do all realize that engery companies are subsidized in the US? Not only are they making a killing at the pump (still cheaper here than most places in the world), they're getting tax dollars too.

[zahncrelnik]

Illinois is up to $2.75 and up from there....

[AgentSun]

AHHHH! Well, I suppose it is my own fault for having to spend 35+ dollars every single time I go to the gas station because my tank is massive. But I wouldn't give up my car. It has too much personality to let me give it up.

[Mrelia]

What annoys me is that the prices rise on speculation. "Oh, there might be a crimp in supply, there might be an unusual disturbance in the middle east, there might be a slowdown in refining capacity. Let's raise prices!"

This is an observation: It seems that prices at the pump jump immediately when oil to be delivered next month goes up, but the prices don't fall until after the lower piced oil is delivered. WTF?

[MotorWerk]

I'm sure glad I live in the middle of a city and don't need a car...

[zahncrelnik]

Um, Kurt_eh, about the title of this thread, would you mind terribly NOT SPITTING IN MY EYE again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





















;)

[arthurfrdent]

if you think of oil like other commodities like, wheat. or oranges, then the speculation seems normal. hard freeze in fla.? BOOM goes the orange juice price. The real hardship is that for the US in the industrial age OIL has been the catalyst for everything. Fortunes and products and the flight to cities, technology in general is underpinned by this. Since that's the case there is a lot of human inertia behind using oil, AND importantly it IS a component of the political power structure in the world. It is also the basis for millions of jobs, direct and indirect.

That is why this is going to hurt. When I was a kid they thought oil would run out by the year 2000 and that didn't happen. But reserves are no longer being found, and applying the just-in-time model to everything HAS caused some problems, simply because there is too much fluctuation for that to work well. That's what causes the price volitility. So when you have a refinery accident, and you have just the right number of refineries to start, well price spike, because there WILL BE a drop in inventory. There isn't any excess capacity...

The upshot in general is that humans don't do very well when they are told they can't have something they are used to having, and it is hard to see what countries will do if they fight over oil. Many people right now have missed it, but China is going to be competing directly with the US for oil, and at some point the actual size of oil reserves in the world will be known. Not the guessed/hoped for size. If the US and China both continue to see Oil as a national security issue... well you can see where I am going with that.

The other thing about humans is that the pain has to reach a certain level before they will do anything. It is a complex question to factor inflation and oil prices to the mix. Gas was $3.50 a galon in 1980 when inflation is factored in? OK, but there were many other things that were different then, that we take for granted now. I walked to school, a mile or two. Now I wouldn't consider letting my kids, unless school was a few blocks away. The upshot is that they would take the bus or get driven. OK, so who PAYS for that? I HAVE to. Eat out often? in '80 maybe once a month AT MOST. It was EXPENSIVE. Now it seems cheaper, but is it? All those prices TOO will go up on transport costs. When those prices go up, people will eat out less in general, and corporate profits go down, jobs are lost etc. etc.

See how all this needs to be taken together to form a picture? Eventually it WILL be worth the money to make fuel cells for everything. And the world WILL change, because that will be a single point leap of technology, changing the way things have been done for 100 years. It's safe to say that the things you do today will be different. Seing what is going to come with clear eyes will be important, holding on to the past will be a detriment. Producing energy for a hungry world is a complex question, and listening to my co-workers bitch about how expensive it is to fill their hummer is really annoying, like cheap gas is their birthright. Things always change. They think it's hard now, they should wait till gas is $6 a gallon. It's not like you can't see this coming.

[Col.Batguano]

gas is between $2.50 & $2.80\gal. in Southern NH
I agree with everything tacklingmonkey, eta_carinae & Mrelia have said.
I can't help but think it's a matter of technological evolution.
I think the real reason Gas prices are soaring is because it is a fossil fuel that drives an old technology that can't keep up with a modern Economy.
I'm certain all the (unmentionable) unpleasentries in that part of the world are a factor,
but did the prices start shooting up because of the mess, or did the mess start because Oil's day has Come and Gone.
I cant help but think that the government is protecting it's wealthy Oil friends because of the very real potential of alternatives such as Hydrogen fuel.

[eta_carinae]

Producing energy for a hungry world is a complex question, and listening to my co-workers bitch about how expensive it is to fill their hummer is really annoying, like cheap gas is their birthright. Things always change. They think it's hard now, they should wait till gas is $6 a gallon. It's not like you can't see this coming.

Well stated :)

[AgentSun]

glad i don't have a hummer.

[Fyodor]

Man... you guys are so lucky with your gas prices and you don't even realise it. And you even COMPLAIN about it. If I were you i'd shut up and hope that it doesn't get any higher because, let me tell you, you got it made.

[Kurt_eh]

True, I hear Europe prices are even worse!

What's the price / litre in your area of Finland, Fyodor?

[eta_carinae]

I believe countries in Europe have more taxes on their gasoline? I don't know for sure though.

The thing is, the price you see at the pump here doesn't completely reflect the actual price you are paying for your gasoline. Even people who don't drive end up paying through the tax breaks. And I'm not trying to paint a picture of big bad greedy oil companies, I'm just pointing out that you don't see every cent you pay when you fill your tank.

[Fyodor]

Well right now it's about 1.29 € per litre for 98E gasoline.

Diesel is at an all-time high of 0.98 € per litre.
Makes me wonder if the extra diesel tax is worth it.

[Kurt_eh]

Presently 1.29 Euros is $1.57 USD per litre.

Converting to gallons: $1.57 * 4 litre/gal = $6.28 US/Gal!!!

:thud:

I was wondering where this picture was taken from :eek:

[tacklingmonkey]

That is all true, but Europe is set up different than the U.S. Europe has a far better transit system all around. The U.S. has decent city transit, but we have like the trains in Europe. I had a professor from Europe who constantly complained that our transit was horrible.
I think that public transit is something we need to work on in the U.S. I mean my small town has 3 train stations out of commission with railroads that go to other towns and into major cities in Ohio. All of this is shut down, i think that it would be adventageous for the State to explore the cost of getting our trains functioning again. If we can give people options other than cars I think they will take it. I know I would.

[BaseLine]

Holland takes the prize baby! 1.43 Euros for one litre of petrol. That's 5.41 euro's per gallon = 6.62 dollars per gallon.

And our transit system sucks ass. One bus every hour where I live (and they only drive till 18:00 in the weekends), and the trains are almost never on time. Also, it's a real challenge to get a decent seat in rush hour. Ah, the thrill of not living in a major city.

Now stop whining!! ;)

[tacklingmonkey]

anyone read The Salmon of Doubt, there is a hilarious look at fossil fuel in the chapter: "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe".

[AgentSun]

i remember the book -- i don't remember the chapter. Much like Douglas Adams and his late night drunken mail ordering, I sometimes read books late at night and don't remember much of it in the morning. My favorite of his drunken infomercial order stories is the time he woke up and found a giant pencil and a giant eraser in his living room.

[tacklingmonkey]

Haha, I like the story he tells about the train and eating that guys cookies...oh man Iw as reading that on a plane and laughed so hard people were staring at me.