Canadians to pay $1.50/litre this summer
Analysts say gas prices will continue to rise with the cost of crude oil, which is expected to top $200 USD a barrel in the next two years. This summer, Canadians should expect to pay around $1.49 per litre at the pumps. Ouch. For a buyer in the US, that’s almost $6 a gallon, a price that’s already been surpassed in parts of Europe.
I’ve been watching people converse online about the price of gasoline. Why are we paying X for gas when there’s so much of it? Why are companies charging so much when they’re raking in such profits?
It’s true that the world’s biggest oil companies are making record profits. Crude oil prices have soared, and for businesses taking it out of the ground, there’s lots of money to be made. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for refining and selling that oil as gasoline. This was a surprising year for companies who were actually losing money at the pumps. Instead of replacing some of their losses with profits in order to lower the cost of gasoline, companies claim they are investing these high profits into high-cost projects to make refining easier (and therefore, more affordable).
Whether we can believe these claims or not.. eh, but analysts say this might not be a situation where supply and demand at the pump is going to change prices. Even though there’s a tipping point where consumers start conserving, it doesn’t look like that will bring the prices down. This is a situation where the buyers of crude oil may control things.
That includes governments. The US, for example, has purchased (or traded for) over 700,000 Million gallons of crude oil stored for emergencies. That’s the largest govt. cache in the world — but it’s only enough, say experts, to last 15 days. And it’s not a typo … 700 Thousand Million .. US Millions. ;)
(Thanks to Tony at Deep Jive Interests for helping me with some Canadian terminology, btw.)
This blog has never catered to cutting costs over saving the environment, but more and more people are calling for the government to allow drilling in protected areas to solve the problem. We need to snap out of the fantasy of oil being an infinite resource, and push ourselves to use alternatives.
Contact our reps and tell them to support clean energy and renewable, greener options vs. more of the same that hasn’t helped us any. And in the meantime, conserve, if not for the sake of your planet, well, then for your pocketbook.
Sources:
Photo Source: US DOE
Tags: canadian gas prices, rising gas prices, why is gas so expensiveRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Public
0 opinions for Canadians to pay $1.50/litre this summer
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: