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Gas prices are rising while crude prices are falling. What gives?3 T! W; f) G. F8 l! ?8 J: l# j
Published: Friday, January 16, 2009 | 5:11 PM ET: b4 u/ x8 v% W9 Q, J2 \; P
Canadian Press NewsItem/NewsComponent/NewsLines/ByLine
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CALGARY - With crude oil prices falling, motorists may wonder why gasoline prices are heading in the other direction.+ z" J- ~, y, g7 Y: D! ]! o
R3 X4 ~$ U" L; D4 U. EThe 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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- ^! y6 N2 n$ N% q; N* k1 fCalgarians were paying on average 81.5 cents per litre - about a four-cent jump in just one day.% k5 U+ a8 \! R) v) t: {
" j8 k. ~, ?$ c. ` ~. 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.: Z* z& r9 I. s( A' {
- e0 u+ K# {0 lBut 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.! \. p+ u+ Y6 h8 L. e4 b
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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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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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Vancouver, which has higher gas taxes than other cities, has prices of 94.7 per litre, up from 87.5 a week ago.7 j6 R1 W, s. d' u9 d5 `
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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$50 a barrel a week ago.0 d! ~& r3 Z7 l, ^. c
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"Crude oil is an important input into the distillation of gasoline. But there's a lot of other factors as well," said Todd Hirsch, senior economist with ATB Financial in Calgary.
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Industry players would say they have to account for transportation, marketing and other expenses - not to mention taxes, which vary from province to province.
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But those oil companies - private-sector players in a free-market system - also want to turn a profit. K9 l6 {4 g5 p$ C1 p {+ H& e
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"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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. k9 M6 X& E* \: Z$ n8 Y" Z/ QAnother explanation could be that the February contract for crude oil expires on Tuesday, and the contract for March is already significantly higher, settling at $42.57 on Friday.1 `9 F+ v, d# X' c. e5 Z# T
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"(The oil companies) might have realized that while prices were low in the last couple of weeks, they knew that there was going to be a correction," Hirsch said.' B* C, J R5 |5 z p+ w# ~
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Hirsch expects pump prices to bounce between 60 and 90 cents per litre over the next few months, but not retesting the heights of last summer.+ T2 _. L6 {; x" j5 F9 d
0 k) j/ q% J: A4 J1 U& R# w* E8 J"I'm not seeing a lot of strengthening in crude oil prices over the next six months," he said.4 {+ b& x8 _- H; p* s U
5 l# m5 x& _, h$ P5 J* h$ d"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."% ~# Y- t% G2 \9 H
. a6 W# C$ J1 [4 i, IBut 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.0 g% H2 h8 e+ ?; S1 z5 e/ h
. O) B; C( x$ Y/ |) O/ N1 G"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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