No correlation between drop in world oil prices and increase at the pumps
Posted Jun 1, 2012 11:36 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Calgary energy analyst says people need to stop looking at the futures price of crude oil when filling up their tank.
Michael Ervin with MJ Evirn & Associates tells 660News, the recent drop in the price of crude has nothing to do with what’s coming out of the pump today because the gas was refined from a much higher priced product a few weeks ago.
Ervin says another thing putting upward pressure on our price of gas is shortages out on the west coast, brought about by some refinery outages in Washington State and California.
Many service stations in Calgary jacked up the price for regular gas by seven cents to $1.16.9 cents a litre.
Some suggest the answer to reduce wild price swings at the pumps is through government regulation.
Ervin says the four Atlantic provinces have regulated gas prices and they still have higher gas prices than we do.
He says the best way to lower gas prices would be if the Federal and Provincial governments slashed their tax take, but he suggests other levy’s would have to be increased to offset the drop in revenue.
Alberta has the lowest gas taxes in the country and even with Friday’s price increase, fuel prices here are still 12 cents below the national average.
