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Gas prices are rising while crude prices are falling. What gives?5 V/ i$ q% }; _, d$ i9 J* b
Published: Friday, January 16, 2009 | 5:11 PM ET
+ I$ N: M/ e& a7 lCanadian Press NewsItem/NewsComponent/NewsLines/ByLine/ }$ a& ]8 O: i* W
% B& c& `5 J( TCALGARY - With crude oil prices falling, motorists may wonder why gasoline prices are heading in the other direction.& k! \" F& M6 s; u/ [, H' m
2 k, t6 p* B J" {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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Calgarians were paying on average 81.5 cents per litre - about a four-cent jump in just one day.
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2 ~% b7 y' f: u& w9 G"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.4 |0 p& u; }/ [8 J( ?; t3 F
b8 K; R3 m5 |% z+ ^6 z tBut 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 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.' E7 F8 F2 h: y) X h5 h
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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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' L: d9 l9 W. ~7 y: H% t- rIn Toronto Friday, pump prices were 80.9 cents per litre. On Thursday they were 79.4 and a week ago they were 74.2.
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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.
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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.: R/ p1 R' q3 Q( E8 z+ u( M
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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$50 a barrel a week ago.6 a$ @" h$ A7 s$ e& k
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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.7 K( O6 M j+ ~
3 u5 h0 c9 I5 x' R6 \/ m$ ]But those oil companies - private-sector players in a free-market system - also want to turn a profit.2 n% h7 i# s7 F5 S) @ ]. {
% D6 y9 Q ^$ _8 ]) `0 [; g' F- |"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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* [9 m7 L. O( }"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."
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- m# h! N1 a, @: t7 kAnother explanation could be that the February contract for crude oil expires on Tuesday, and the contract for March is already significantly higher, settling at $42.57 on Friday.
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"(The oil companies) might have realized that while prices were low in the last couple of weeks, they knew that there was going to be a correction," Hirsch said.
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Hirsch expects pump prices to bounce between 60 and 90 cents per litre over the next few months, but not retesting the heights of last summer.
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"I'm not seeing a lot of strengthening in crude oil prices over the next six months," he said.& \' x7 ?. O) w6 V4 {
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"In the next six months I would expect to see gasoline prices more or less in the range they're in now, maybe firming up a little bit towards the spring and summer driving season as demand rises."
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But Gasbuddy.com co-founder Jason Toews said he sees gas prices going higher than their current levels because of a slowdown in Alberta's oilsands and expected production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exploring Countries.
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% E. z O! S$ |' a: S, e& A"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.6 i# \* ]% M5 o
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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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