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Gas prices are rising while crude prices are falling. What gives?
" x4 q5 L5 r8 P% s: tPublished: Friday, January 16, 2009 | 5:11 PM ET
0 v7 J7 P9 k0 b* n" _& BCanadian Press NewsItem/NewsComponent/NewsLines/ByLine
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0 ~& z- {" e# `# T; f+ K( x. q; UCALGARY - With crude oil prices falling, motorists may wonder why gasoline prices are heading in the other direction.
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9 {/ B, J$ c& v- mThe 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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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.; G; p3 j. l& P3 t$ z+ N
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But 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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* i. _1 O8 g/ i2 e, m9 q4 K/ w"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.4 p' F7 p9 e8 ^& P% K, B' s' [
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"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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9 Q9 A" y8 Y0 d, N% @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.- K9 j" c7 h- m
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Vancouver, which has higher gas taxes than other cities, has prices of 94.7 per litre, up from 87.5 a week ago.: \" m- w5 b7 I3 }5 H" R1 X2 A
" }# L3 P- Y* c2 y% C3 uThe price of crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline, has been dropping steeply since it's peak of $147 reached in July.
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9 C* K: f$ W; p& iThe 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.
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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.) p8 S+ q, n. R- s! p6 M( r- F; V
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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.: x: t% ?+ C! F a5 j7 d
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But those oil companies - private-sector players in a free-market system - also want to turn a profit.6 \9 j5 C/ {% c1 j2 E0 q
$ J2 {# N8 ?! ^"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."9 ^* j3 J J/ h
# y0 X( @2 [$ ?/ m9 q9 d* S+ U" O9 tAnother explanation could be that the February contract for crude oil expires on Tuesday, and the contract for March is already significantly higher, settling at $42.57 on Friday.
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% p$ Q! P7 K* j& Y"(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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1 S! [& g6 Z! _8 PHirsch 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.' @+ _+ p/ Y2 d6 C
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"I'm not seeing a lot of strengthening in crude oil prices over the next six months," he said.
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"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."/ i- N1 d' d! g c& d$ V
3 x; S. r9 `7 {4 kBut 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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"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., e8 ]( R% h" e0 _2 O
9 c2 `* c+ k( k7 J! E; `! ["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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