gasoline prices & government

[lew]

Everybody still able to find gasoline in your area ??

 

Were gonna be OK though, I saw Dwight Duncan....Ontario Energy Minister......interviewed this morning and he claims the government is looking after us and will be on the look-out for any gas companies trying to rip us off.

 

Gas has risen 90¢ a gallon in the last couple weeks.......anybody know at what level we can start calling it a rip-off ??

[TennesseeGuy]

OPEC countries started cutting production when prices of raw oil began dropping, resulting in several severe cuts. We enjoyed a lag, but now the cuts are having an effect. Demand is increasing due to colder weather and more travel. Supply is down due to cuts. Supply and demand control prices. Government control of prices would only make the situation worse in the long run. We're still suffering from price freezing in the 70's.

[Terry]

the thing that pisses me off is our exported oil have not dropped and world prices are not going up at the moment....

we should indeed have a law that domestic needs must be filled before we can ship one drop out of the country

[TennesseeGuy]

Crude oil was at $50 U.S. a barrel a short time ago. It's now above $60 U.S. per barrel and the OPEC county leaders are happy. A pretty hefty jump at 20%. Still better than the $72 high.

[fishdawg]

what Terry said!

[hawkeye]

I’m so relieved that our government is looking out for us NOT

 

At every conceivable opportunity we have been screwed at the pump. Any excuse whatsoever and up go the prices

[John]

Oil is a commodity and prices rise and fall with supply and demand. Unfortunately, the oil companies maximize what they charge for refined product on the upswing and drag their heels on the downswing.

 

Not really any different than any other free market commodity.

 

I still don't like paying 97.9 though!

[Headhunter]

Terry, I agree whole heartedly! The big problem is that due to the free trade agreement, we must ship oil to the States! It is clearly stated in the agreement. We can get stooped for our soft lumber, beef etc... but we must keep the oil flowing. Until that is addressed, we will continue to pay!

There was a line up this morning at a local independant station, 4 cars deep at every enterance. Price was $.99.9 /ltr and they couldn't sell it fast enough!

HH

[Terry]

yes..that is true

but hear is the thing that gets me....

gas oil and electricity we sell to other countries and there is not regs on how much of it we can sell...

so with hydro..they sell to the other countries and make their full profit..then we don't produce enough for domestic use..so they buy it back from the country they sold it too, at a now inflated price which they tack onto our cost plus they add their profit margin and they make double the profit on the same electricity...talk about double dipping..and it works the same with the oil and the stuff doesn't even have to leave the country...it's all done on paper......there should be a law, that our need must be filled first.....period

[TennesseeGuy]

Avoid being a victim of oil pricing by investing your retirement money in energy funds. Why not own the companies that you do business with?

 

Your IRA in energy will do better than it would in Ford Motor Company. Go with winners and be a winner. Or..................................................

[bigfish1965]

Wow..conspiracy theorists.

The current gasoline shortage has nothing to do with the availability of oil. We have the single largest oil reserve on earth. The shortage is from the refinery fire and subsequent production loss. This shifts the demand to other stations. Remember the old email going around about boycotting one station to get them to drop their prices and the flaw in logic within? It was said it wouldn't work because it was just inspire other stations to raise prices. And here we see the proof of that.

The oil companies are free to trade with whomever they choose. Sometimes they get a good price selling here and sometimes elsewhere. Are they making obscene profits? Sure they are. But that is our fault. They can only charge what we are willing to pay. It appears there isn't much of a limit on what we will pay for gas. But we're all still driving big trucks towing big boats with big motors...proof we haven't reached the boiling point just yet. The only way to push down prices is to push down demand. Line-ups at gas stations doesn't do that.

[Garyv]

As I type this NYMEX is trading down at $60.01 a barrel...this will fluctuate throughout the day until trading closes. The shortage in Ontario is due to the Sarnia and Nanitoke fire, but I guess that since there are no pipelines from Mtl or Alberta we will pay whatever esso and their friends in collusion with them decide we should. I'll be buying my gas in Pt Huron Mich Thursday while over for a day trip.

 

Canada is self sufficient when it comes to oil energy, we just choose to sell it to the world market at more profit than give our own citizens and manufacturing industry a break to help our economy.

Edited February 27, 2007 by Garyv

[walleyejigger]

boy i'm glad someone is looking out for us, 1 of our 4 gas stations ran out of gas for 2 days and the gas only went up to 103.9, whew..... good thing the gov't is watching our back, THIEVES

[lilkynan]

I believe and have all my faith in our wonderful people oriented government - I believe they have a clear control of everything for the well being of all of us and not the stock holders of the country. I wake up every day believing that every tax dollar I pay is spent wisely the same way the little bit I have left over is carefully monitored and not spent on unnecessary items. I believe that the 60% I take home still needs to be taxed another 15% up front and then other taxes in the product that I purchase. I believe that Gas is only charged what is needed and profits are sought outside of my country when exported. I believe that I must be a complete IDIOT!!!!

 

$105.9 this morning in Barrie!!! -

[charlesn]

2 of the 3 stations I normally frequent in Mississauga are out of gas. Hwy 10/Britannia Esso and Petro Can both dry. The Shell at Hwy 10 and Matheson is out of Bronze and thus selling their Super at 97.8 which is what I filled upon this morning.

 

I think most gas stations will start installing a vaseline dispenser at the pumps to make it easier for us to take the pain. lol

 

Charles

[TennesseeGuy]

Government redistributes income. Government produces nothing. I won't be counting on my government to control the price of anything.

[lew]

TennesseeGuy, what were talking about is the possibility of a very serious shortage of gasoline in Ontario due to a couple of recent fires in Southern Ontario refineries.

 

Many gas stations in the Toronto area are already out of gas and many more are starting to restrict how much gas each person can perchase. There's also talks now of contingencey plans to keep police cars and ambulances in service if the problem persists for much longer.

 

It's also affecting the supply of diesel fuel and there's a concern now that the trucking industry may not be able to fuel their trucks if this continues for too much longer, and that could cause serious side effects if the trucks can't deliver their goods to the factories and grocery stores.

[fishindevil]

yes there is about 4 gas stations in oshawa that i know of that dont have gas and are closed with yellow tape all around the pumps,or there prices are all at 0.00, but they said it will improve real soon because of the C.N rail strike being over,but like they said on the radio why isnt the insurance company that insures those refineries paying for gas to be shipped to the areas,thats what they are supposed to do,the govt,said they will charge anyone who will gouge,the customers by raising prices artificially,its all a dang scam.. ..it should be illegal,god dan govt....and oil,what can we do as the voting public....NOTHING

[bigbuck]

I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist but come on, now all kinds of gas stations are running out of gas!!! Last night on the way home from work 4 out of the 5 gas stations in my general area in Oakville were out of gas. Only Sunoco is keeping the pumps from running dry. It's a joke. How big was this fire?? Did it shut down the refinery completely?? Early reports were it was a minor fire and full capacity should have been back on line in a week to 10 days. Now they are talking about weeks. Give me a break!! Good old Dan McTeague, the MP from Scarborough/Pickering USED to moan and complain about big oil and how we the consumers were being hosed, now he's an apologist for big oil. I wonder how big his villa is down in Grand Cayman??

[topraider]

There is supposed to be a continental market for gasoline - when the gulf storms hit Aug/Sept 2005 and wiped out Louisiana refineries, it created shortages in Ontario, as our gasoline was shipped south to cover USA shortages. We had to pay $1.25 a litre for weeks on end until the gulf refineries were fixed.

 

Now that we have a problem, why isn't gasoline being shipped north from the USA to cover our shortage?

 

Maybe its because prices here are are too low, so nobody wants to bother taking advantage of the arbitrage opportunities that might otherwise exist (buy in USA, sell in Canada). So instead southern Ontario does without.

 

If a refinery fire can wreck things like that, that should be a WARNING - there is no excess capacity in the system. We need more refineries.

 

Governments put up a lot of red tape that makes the cost of building new refineries prohibitive. The environmental assessments alone would take years. No refineries have been built in NA in 30 years.

For years and years refiners could not even earn their cost of capital, it was a lousy business. Building new refineries costs billions. And if somebody builds a new one, that could create excess supply, which would wreck margins across the whole industry.

 

And who wants the ugly mess refineries create in their backyard, especially if most of the output gets shipped to other juristictions. And nobody is going to commit billions of capital unless they can ship anywhere (i.e. get the best price)

 

Its a tough issue. And to those who think that Ontarians should pay lower than the world price for its energy, forget it, that would create more problems than it would solve.

Edited February 27, 2007 by topraider

[Fishmaster]

Can't wait to be spending $200 or more a day at the pump this summer to keep the boat a float ..dam scamers ..last year was 1.22 a liter whats it going to cost this summer over the water ..

[tonyb]

Sure seems like they are setting the stage for yet another large increase fuel rates.

 

Tony

[Handlebarz]

I will use my right to remain silent as my words will get me in trouble and well I better stop there