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Gas prices are rising while crude prices are falling. What gives?
- ], |7 y1 T) B/ H9 z F' y3 `Published: Friday, January 16, 2009 | 5:11 PM ET2 Q/ N0 D5 s$ g- O' O
Canadian Press NewsItem/NewsComponent/NewsLines/ByLine4 U. C% O. ^3 |
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CALGARY - With crude oil prices falling, motorists may wonder why gasoline prices are heading in the other direction.+ B5 n/ P6 A; D5 r$ m2 q( u
8 }( `% h: k4 qThe 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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& X1 D) Q% b; Z' I1 J" l A"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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But Friday's price is still a welcome respite from the $1.40-level gas many Canadian cities faced during the summer.( Q2 u# S5 Q; E A2 {9 X
/ }# v$ p7 Q! y1 I- ^3 D6 Q: f"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.; r. j0 B% L( H3 N. w# M* `
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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."5 G' Y+ Z! k0 ]2 C U# @
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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.
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5 }& z) b+ k% B( T* O: cVancouver, which has higher gas taxes than other cities, has prices of 94.7 per litre, up from 87.5 a week ago.+ L/ u0 d7 J6 R, l" z9 _+ f
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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 n% I5 Q4 D" P
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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.* B1 g5 O5 E) j1 ~
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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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But those oil companies - private-sector players in a free-market system - also want to turn a profit.
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. D% r, ^6 H3 w4 E"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."
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Another explanation could be that the February contract for crude oil expires on Tuesday, and the contract for March is already significantly higher, settling at $42.57 on Friday.
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+ N4 y. X3 |2 ?"(The oil companies) might have realized that while prices were low in the last couple of weeks, they knew that there was going to be a correction," Hirsch said.4 p2 D" N* S& A3 n$ s( h
; D Z L/ O- C! s1 rHirsch 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.- \& T- x3 D, R( J. x$ p
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"I'm not seeing a lot of strengthening in crude oil prices over the next six months," he said.$ z' P9 O$ X- _4 F9 V" \
; [6 @6 ]% [4 c6 }$ @) f"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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$ l! d" U. ^/ v1 aBut 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.2 h* i; K. W* Z9 N, W1 ]% p) }8 e
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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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