Gas Prices

[Crazy Horse]

Lots of misunderstanding and wrong information here.

You cannot judge the price of gasoline solely by the price of crude oil. As mentioned by others, gasoline is a commodity that is traded worldwide, so just because the price of oil is low (which it is for Alberta oil compared to Brent), it is supply and demand, or more accurately, perceived supply and demand that dictates price. For us as consumers it is a double whammy in this country because the refiners make very high profit on refined gasoline compared to refineries in the USA. And then the retail profit, which is also enjoyed by the oil companies because they have already priced out most of the independent retailers, is gravy for them. The reason for the recent spike is not because of oil prices, but because of hectic buying on the world market. Attached below is a pretty good summary of what is happening.


"The rapid and unusual rise in gas prices at this time of year is the direct result of hedge funds from Wall Street to London amassing positions on literally millions of barrels of oil and gasoline. Any quick read of fundamentals shows the global economy is well supplied and demand stable. Yet concerns about a shortage of cheap blending components, needed for summer grade fuel, has commodity hedgers betting massively, without position limits, that prices will head up. The sheer size of their over-leveraged bets and positions based on rumour rather than fact, makes higher prices a sure bet. Its a nauseating and reckless repeat of the 2008 energy superbubble which threatens to disrupt the global economy, not to mention a swift kick in the pants to consumers who pay for these price distortions. "

[watchkat]

I'm tired of the lies told regarding prices are higher because.................
Check out www.gasbuddy.com for Kelowna, Summerland, Vernon, Penticton, Osoyoos and recent prices are 128.9 for the most part right up and down the valley, BUT
Check out Burns Lake, Little Fort, Barriere, Williams Lake, etc..........hmmm it is still 116.9 to 118.9
They are in the long list of cheapest gas search for B.C.
So much for the BS of costs of delivery to the Okanagan valley.

I just sent this to Dan Albas and Ron Cannan. Conservatives are now a majority and so time they actually did something about the gouging rather than their old excuse of no support from other parties back then.

To Dan Albas and one separately to Ron Cannan stating that I'm not in his riding but asking he do something also.

As a resident of xxx, I am in your riding and I would sincerely ask you once again to look into this price gouging in the Okanagan.

One look at today's Gas buddy reports from purchasers compared to the rest of the province including Burns Lake, Little Fort, Barriere and many other outlying areas proves that something is amiss here.
Fuel in the Okanagan valley jumped over night by 10cents for the most part to a common point of 128.9 per litre and yet it is still 116.9 to 118.9 as a low in many other places in this province.
These lower prices are in many cases locations that are out of the way and defy the claims of suppliers to our valley that delivery charges account for the hikes quite often.

Please look at www.gasbuddy.com for British Columbia all and you will see these low prices are within the last few minutes in many cases....not old reports.
Then check Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Penticton, Westbank, etc and you will clearly see they are ganging up with pricing for no reason.
Oil is down $2.00 a barrel today!

[John500]

Its gouging. And any government is not going to do anything about it. The higher the price, the more taxes they take in. Its a win (big oil) win (governments) loss (us the consumer). Always has been like that.
Wit all their excuses why it has to be this way, none of them make sense. Low dollar, high dollar, high cost of a barrel and you name it. Latest I heard was because of maintenance of the refineries. Guess that only happens in Febr? Wait till summer comes and prices will go up again. Guess then the refineries need more maintenance...oops that excuse already used in Febr. So there will be a board meeting and they all decide how much its going to be and to come up with an excuse. Guess all oil comapnies will do exactly the same. Competition ha ha. Price fixing! Yes sirree

[Crazy Horse]

I'm tired of the lies told regarding prices are higher because.................
Check out http://www.gasbuddy.com for Kelowna, Summerland, Vernon, Penticton, Osoyoos and recent prices are 128.9 for the most part right up and down the valley, BUT
Check out Burns Lake, Little Fort, Barriere, Williams Lake, etc..........hmmm it is still 116.9 to 118.9
They are in the long list of cheapest gas search for B.C.
So much for the BS of costs of delivery to the Okanagan valley.

I just sent this to Dan Albas and Ron Cannan. Conservatives are now a majority and so time they actually did something about the gouging rather than their old excuse of no support from other parties back then.

To Dan Albas and one separately to Ron Cannan stating that I'm not in his riding but asking he do something also.

As a resident of xxx, I am in your riding and I would sincerely ask you once again to look into this price gouging in the Okanagan.

One look at today's Gas buddy reports from purchasers compared to the rest of the province including Burns Lake, Little Fort, Barriere and many other outlying areas proves that something is amiss here.
Fuel in the Okanagan valley jumped over night by 10cents for the most part to a common point of 128.9 per litre and yet it is still 116.9 to 118.9 as a low in many other places in this province.
These lower prices are in many cases locations that are out of the way and defy the claims of suppliers to our valley that delivery charges account for the hikes quite often.

Please look at http://www.gasbuddy.com for British Columbia all and you will see these low prices are within the last few minutes in many cases....not old reports.
Then check Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Penticton, Westbank, etc and you will clearly see they are ganging up with pricing for no reason.
Oil is down $2.00 a barrel today!

What lies are you referring to? I think it is just people with wrong information telling you things that they believe are right. Most of those cheaper stations you mention are probably independent stations that are holding on as long as they still have fuel in their tanks that came at a lower cost. You mention Williams Lake. Look again and you will see the cheaper prices are independent stations. Petro-Canada, Chevron and Shell are all 1.319. You will very soon see the prices rise in those places you mentioned.

[watchkat]

Oh so you are saying that every dealer in the Okanagan Valley ran out at the same time?

Chevron and Esso in Cranbrook were still 117.9 one hour ago
PetroCan and Centex in Kimberley were will 117.9 one hour ago
Petrocan and Superstore in Merritt were still 116.9 four hours ago and another Petrocan in Merritt was 116.9 two hours ago
Costco in Kamloops was 111.9 just one hour ago.
Real Canadian Superstore in Williams Lake was 116.9 three hours ago.

Guess maybe you are saying these are all dealers with a conscience and aren't gouging just because they could.

[joer2012]

Sunshine tax, beetches



Pay up, drive less, or ride a llama to work

Giddyup!!!!!

[Crazy Horse]

Oh so you are saying that every dealer in the Okanagan Valley ran out at the same time?

Chevron and Esso in Cranbrook were still 117.9 one hour ago
PetroCan and Centex in Kimberley were will 117.9 one hour ago
Petrocan and Superstore in Merritt were still 116.9 four hours ago and another Petrocan in Merritt was 116.9 two hours ago
Costco in Kamloops was 111.9 just one hour ago.
Real Canadian Superstore in Williams Lake was 116.9 three hours ago.

Guess maybe you are saying these are all dealers with a conscience and aren't gouging just because they could.

No of course they don't all run out at the same time. And i'm not so sure it is their conscience that keeps their price low as much as a strategy to sell more gas. If you read my post above there is an explanation of why these prices are so volatile right now. I am not saying there isn't greed involved, because there is, but speculators on the market have a way of creating artificial supply and demand forces that ultimately are the cause of price fluctuations.

[Snarf]

Sad but true; when gas hits $2/liter, I will still fill up my car...

[ford150]

guess the expensive fuel hasn't made its way to:
Kamloops...115.9
Merrit.......116.9
Williams Lake 116.9
Salmon Arm 117.9
And so on

Appears those refinery fires in California are finicky?
Or was it maintenance
Or a flood in New York

Wonder if crookedmember could got some of this cheaper stuff for his station?
The Esso on Leckie is at 100.9 Must be loosing money big time.

[Crazy Horse]

guess the expensive fuel hasn't made its way to:
Kamloops...115.9
Merrit.......116.9
Williams Lake 116.9
Salmon Arm 117.9
And so on

Appears those refinery fires in California are finicky?
Or was it maintenance
Or a flood in New York

Wonder if crookedmember could got some of this cheaper stuff for his station?
The Esso on Leckie is at 100.9 Must be loosing money big time.

Do you not even read the other posts explaining the price spike? It has nothing to do with fires or floods.

[Sn0man]

Sunshine tax, beetches

Lol - yep!

Between 101.9 and 104.9 here

[ford150]

CH I agree with you.
Typed sarcasm doesn't work well. Sorry about that.

[Crazy Horse]

CH I agree with you.
Typed sarcasm doesn't work well. Sorry about that.

Haha, sometimes in this age of the typed conversation we lose something. My reply comes across pretty sharp after seeing it again.

[Ken7]

The reason for increases is limited supply due to refineries shutting down for maintenance. Superstore had an awesome deal where you saved on gas depending how much you spent in the grocery store, but I think it ended yesterday

That is the line of BS they give us. I once wrote a letter to one of the big boys. They told me in a long round about way it was supply and demand.

A friend of mine was at the Regina Co-op refinery one sunny afternoon. A young employee came to his supervisor and told him they were at a given number of gallons on production. The foreman looked at his watch, about 3:00 p.m. and told the young worker to shut it done for the day.

My friend questioned him as to why, there be still 3 hours of work left. He was told; you don't want to have a surplus.

Now what does that tell you? They use that line to justify the raping of each and every consumer. It is the same across Canada.

I just wished there was an answer to bring these companies to task on it.

[Crazy Horse]

That is the line of BS they give us. I once wrote a letter to one of the big boys. They told me in a long round about way it was supply and demand.

A friend of mine was at the Regina Co-op refinery one sunny afternoon. A young employee came to his supervisor and told him they were at a given number of gallons on production. The foreman looked at his watch, about 3:00 p.m. and told the young worker to shut it done for the day.

My friend questioned him as to why, there be still 3 hours of work left. He was told; you don't want to have a surplus.

Now what does that tell you? They use that line to justify the raping of each and every consumer. It is the same across Canada.

I just wished there was an answer to bring these companies to task on it.

In the US they publish the inventory levels of gasoline and depending on expected demand, wholesale prices are set. Gas stations and refiners then use that cost to discount from to gain market share. In this country, inventory levels are not known. Refiners here use the wholesale price as a floor, and mark up from there. Also, in the US they have much stricter anti-competition laws that do not allow large refiners to sell at a loss to put independent dealers out of business, a practice that has nearly decimated the small independents in this country.