Gerritt Posted May 11, 2007 Report Posted May 11, 2007 Power outage shuts Imperial Oil's Nanticoke refinery DAVID EBNER Globe and Mail Update May 11, 2007 at 4:16 PM EDT CALGARY — — A major Ontario oil refinery will be out of business for several days, possibly pushing up gasoline prices in an already tight market for the commodity. Nanticoke, on the shores of Lake Erie south of Hamilton, shut down Friday morning after a power outage sparked an automatic cycle to stop the facility from operating. The cause is unknown and no one was hurt but Nanticoke won't be fully operational again until next week. The refinery, owned by Imperial Oil Ltd [iMO-T], supplies roughly 20 per cent of Ontario's gasoline. It is “too early” to know if the outage will affect gas supply, said Pius Rolheiser, an Imperial spokesman. The refinery will restart in stages, meaning some gasoline will be produced before the full facility is running. The power outage is the second big problem for Nanticoke this year. In February, part of the refinery was shut down after a fire, forcing some gas stations to close and pushing prices higher. Friday morning's outage occurs at a time when gasoline prices have been jumping higher, almost daily. Industry asserts prices typically rise in May ahead of the summer, the busiest time of year for driving, a jump in demand while supplies of gasoline remain relatively static. Gas prices spiked higher in the first week of May, causing widespread concern—but according to consultant MJ Ervin & Associates, the national price of gas was $1.08 a litre on Tuesday, down 2 cents from a week earlier, with the price in Toronto at $1.02, down 6 cents. On Friday, www.torontogasprices.com reported that gasoline was $1.07 a litre, up from $1.04 on Thursday. Some market commentators said gasoline could surge to a new record this summer—meaning it would have to eclipse the $1.26 record set after Hurricane Katrina in September, 2005—but others such as Cathy Hay of MJ Ervin say there are no indications that point to such a surge. High gas prices have sparked a debate about whether oil companies are charging unfair rates. On Thursday, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives claimed in a study that Canadians have been “paying too much for gas for nearly two years.” The study suggested prices have exceeded “levels that would be justified on the basis of costs and normal profit margins,” calculating that drivers in Toronto are currently being overcharged by 15 cents a litre. The Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, a lobby group for the gasoline industry, shot back by saying it “categorically rejected” the policy alternatives report. The institute said the study was “simplistic” and ignored “market realities.” Get ready to be shafted! Gerritt.
irishfield Posted May 11, 2007 Report Posted May 11, 2007 Which one of the executives, with stock options, pulled the breaker on his way out the door to the golf course this morning?
tjsa Posted May 11, 2007 Report Posted May 11, 2007 lol got my ol' broomstick ready, and greased up for the May long weekend, already know what to expect from the gas gougers, been der, dun dat!!!!!
tjsa Posted May 11, 2007 Report Posted May 11, 2007 Wayne, thought you had gone north by now, ...................get lost will ya, lol
irishfield Posted May 11, 2007 Report Posted May 11, 2007 Dang customers screw everything up. Just put one in the air 5 minutes ago...the other tomorrow afternoon. Lake by noon Monday and my tanks are already full... Truck and the new boat.
tjsa Posted May 12, 2007 Report Posted May 12, 2007 sure, blame the customers, just get outta here will ya????
bigfish1965 Posted May 12, 2007 Report Posted May 12, 2007 I've got enough energy fund mutuals that I may just break even.... I wonder if I can get a mini-van in a tiller.
Dutch Posted May 12, 2007 Report Posted May 12, 2007 Has anyone seen the documentary "The Smartest Guys in the Room"? It is about the Enron debacle and how the top executives, through Market traders, pushed up the price of the California Energy market. Remember hearing about the brown-outs in Cali? Well those were engineered by these energy traders. A couple of weeks before Enron was due to report quarterly results, they were consistently behind expectations, but due to some miraculous "power problems" and by taking plants off the grid, prices were driven up and Enron made millions and millions in those weeks before results were due. The strangest thing was, Cali uses only 70%-80% of the power generation available in the Winter months, but Enron was able to cause these black-outs and take up to 40% off the power out of the grid. Great movie. Very enlightening and informative. I smell a rat. Why is there no refining capabilities out there? Why is supply so far down? These price increases are artificial. The best thing anyone can do is buy oil company stocks. Maybe the profit one makes will offset the increased prices at the pumps. The government has said they will not be looking into gasoline price fixing accusations. I find it a conflict of interest that the Canadian Government owns not an insignificant number of shares in Petro Canda.
walleyejigger Posted May 12, 2007 Report Posted May 12, 2007 well, i'll be bending over and burning a 75$ tank of gas tomorrow, i am an oil company's bi@tch..... watcha gonna do....
holdfast Posted May 12, 2007 Report Posted May 12, 2007 Time to Take charge and Boycott. I say Boycott Petro Can for 2 Weeks, Then Hit Esso for two weeks. Next Hit Shell. In the Meantime buy off the little Guy. Lets start a gas war. The longer we cry about it the more they will screw us . Fight Back.
GbayGiant Posted May 12, 2007 Report Posted May 12, 2007 The only other guy I know who made as much profit as the oil companies was Tony Yayo in Scare Face.
Jigger Posted May 12, 2007 Report Posted May 12, 2007 They may as well put some rides for kids at gas stations. Thats going to be the only family outing some people are going to afford soon enough..."Kids we're going out today. "Where are we going Dad?""To the gas station.""YIPEEEEE!!!"" I'm going to have to stop eating to support my gas addiction
Gerritt Posted May 12, 2007 Author Report Posted May 12, 2007 (edited) Dutch, the CDN government sold off its part of Petro Canada a couple years ago... but you are correct, they wont look into it because of the billions they are making... the higher the gas price the more tax dollars they receive... why would our government shoot themselves in the foot like that? Right now we are sitting on billions in surpluses, Surpluses us as Canadians created. Think we get a break on anything? That is OUR collective money OUR government is sitting on, While we pay and pay and pay more and more and you know what.. We put up with it. Because that is what we as Canadians do.... We put up with things. We dont get upset or passionate or hell even demonstrate, (Unless it is hockey then all bets are off) Seriously though we are more Passionate about Hockey then how our country is ran... it is a pity.. The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over expecting a different result. Until us as Canadians stand up and shout we will not take it more this will continue. If a takes our government to be overthrown and reformed then so be it. I for one love my country, however I have a severe dislike for the snakes that run it. When you and I are taxed @ over 50% of our wage and inflation is constantly climbing meaning even more money in Government coffers how long do you think this can last before a complete collapse of our economy? There is talk about raising Minimum Wage to 10.00.... Great you think if you are a minimum wage earner.... But what do you think is going to happen to the businesses that have to hire these people @ $10.00 raise prices to make up for it? That Tim Hortons coffee is now going to cost you $3.00 a cup. It is a never ending cycle The middle class is disappearing The amount of people below the poverty line has increased significantly as has the amount of "wealthy" people meaning we are getting poorer and poorer... in some cases richer.. but the amount of increase in people below the poverty line has far outweighed the amount of "rich" people... 10 years ago we never heard of "The working Poor".... today it is the latest catch phase... Sorry for the rant... give me a call when we decide to overthrow the government and name Canadave our new Federal leader! I will be first in line. Gerritt. Edited May 12, 2007 by Gerritt
Black_Blade Posted May 12, 2007 Report Posted May 12, 2007 I was talking about this with the wife a few weeks back and she brought up a good point. We are always striving to make these engines that are more efficient so they use less fuel etc, which is all fine and dandy but from the gas companies business point of view all these efficient engines spell LOST PROFIT since less fuel is required. What do you do? Raise the prices to compensate and maintain the profit margin. The same can be seen pretty much in everything in a market economy I suppose. Electricity....the big push to conserve energy, buy energy wise bulbs and appliances...while this may be good for environmental issues, it will not save the consumers anything in the long run....for you can guarantee that hydro rates and natural gas rates etc, will be increased to maintain their healthy profit margins regardless. So less energy is used, but our bank accounts will still be suffering. What can be done? I have no idea....overthrow a government etc? and end up like all these other scrabbling little places you hear about that have these revolts all the time....running around the streets with assault rifles etc (while some fellas would love to move up from paint balll guns to assault rifles...I think stuff like that would really ruin my weekend ) The biggest problem, just like I see at work, is that the majority of people who are not effected by some actions from our company will not do anything to protect the rights of those who are being effected by those actions...until their toes are stepped on...then they start hollering and demanding justice etc. On a bigger scale, its like that in this country...so many folks that are financially comfortable and can afford these price increases etc, while they may hate to pay more, could not care less really about the plight of the lower wage earners etc...so will not be stepping out of their comfort zones to rock and boats I do believe this sorta became a rant of sorts...lol....apologies
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