wow... I am so damn impressed I can hardly stand it!:-)

Helmsman !!... Quick.. steer for the pumps!! Be quick before they see us !!

Men !!
Grab the cans !!
Get that fuel on board !!

HAR Maties ... she be like stealin' from the Crown I tells yuh !!

Aye .. there's nothing like a good plunder, I say.... Gawd knows I'm weak from being plundered by them oil kings and their scurvy minions... Away with yah !!

We are paying the same pump price now as we were last September and the price of crude is at the same level.
Are we paying too much, probably...but I am glad it is dropping how ever so slowly.
Goes up 4 and 5 cents at a time, drops by one or two cents....
amusing...maybe

I heard a rumour that gas in summer could go up to $1.50 per litre. Is this insanity possible? Sorry to rain on the parade. :)

Get back to me when it's where it should be, like .80 cents a liter.

Heidi's got it right. There is an acute shortage of refinery capacity in the good old USA and Canada. This will cause a shortage of gasoline, and **Walla** the price will go up.

The shortage of refinery capacity is a direct result of Canadian and American Companies continueing to hire **idiots** for CEO,s. As Lee Ioccoca says there is a distinct lack of leadership in North America. I certainly agree with him on that point.

It was not to many years ago that refineries in Canada were dismantled and sent to South East Asia and set up over there. The two in BC that come to mind was one in Taylor BC and One in Kamloops that was located close to the Kamloops Golf and Country Club. I beleive it was called the IOCO Refinery. In any event we continue to reward CEO'S for making stupid decisions.

Much like we continue to re-elect politicians who have proven beyond a doubt that they dont have a clue.

Such is the way of democracy.

I f you are a deisel user, the price on Hwy 97 south of the Fraser River is 87.3 / l. The price in the rest of PG is 96.9 / l.

So, where should you go to buy deisel.

Refinery capacity is a major part of the problem, and I think the oil barons like it that way!
Supply and demand.
As one who has followed what is happening in the stock markets for years,oil has been a major money maker for many in the last couple of years.
More so now than ever.
Just take a look at the share prices of some of the oil companies like Petro Canada,Imperial,etc.
And these are only a couple.
So why would they do anything to change that?
And why would the government want them to?
I would say that we could very well be seeing $1.35-$1.50 by the end of July or early August.
I hope I am wrong, but I will be suprised if we don't.
Also,if the violence and political unrest in the middle east continues to escalate as rapidly as it has been lately,we are going to hit record pricing in both oil AND gold.
Again, my instincts tell me we are in for one hell of a ride and it won't be pretty!

The rising value of the Canadian dollar should have resulted in our gas prices gradually going down or at least staying the same. This did not happen so we are getting our pockets picked twice.

Actually, more than twice:

Our federal government is enjoying the whole thing - unexpected added tax revenue with no obligation to return more of it to the provinces with the crumbling highways!

Victoria also gets to keep more!

Furthermore:

"The shortage of refinery capacity is a direct result of Canadian and American Companies continuing to hire **idiots** for CEO,s."

Super smart idiots, those CEOs! Restrict the supply in times of rising demand and you can raise the price to whatever you want it to be! This is pure genius, not idiocy!

No wonder those *idiots* are getting annual bonuses in the tens of millions!

"The rising value of the Canadian dollar should have resulted in our gas prices gradually going down or at least staying the same."

Not if the C$ did not go up as fast against the US$ as gas prices have gone up.

Knock yourself out with this chart to find out how gas prices vary in the USA and Canada as well as how it has varied over time up to a 6 year period.

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx

The average price 6 years ago for a litre of gas in C$ was $0.73.8 in Canada and $0.44.7 in the USA. That was 65% more in Canada than in the USA.

Recently, the average price for a litre of gas in C$ is $1.08.8 in Canada and $0.95.6 in the USA. That is 13.8% more in Canada than in the USA.

The price of gasoline in the USA has increased from about US$1.40/US gallon to about US$3.04/US gallon over the past five years. That is about a 118% increase.

At the same time, the increase in Canada from C$0.73.8 to C$1.08.8 is a 47% increase.

So, count yourself lucky that you are living in Canada since the comparative increase has been much higher. On top of that, it is much higher than the increase in the value of the C$ against the US$.

If the Canuck prices are gauging Canucks, how much do you think the Yank prices are gauging the Yanks? They have a much greater reason to complain. So, California has much more to worry about than Canada.

"If the Canuck prices are gauging Canucks, how much do you think the Yank prices are gauging the Yanks? They have a much greater reason to complain."

They complain a lot, all the time! Yet, they elected (or did they really?) and then re-elected G.W. Bush whose geo-political adventurism contributed a lot to the high international tensions and the increase in the price of crude oil - so they must be willing to endure this as long as it will take, complaining all the time.

If the Canadian dollar had stayed at US 68 cents what would we be paying now for gasoline?

How come imported automobile prices in Canada haven't dropped with the recent increases in the value of the Canuck dollar?

Somebody must be pocketing the difference!

Actually I worked that out and forgot to post it. It would be around $1.55/litre ..... that is the level heidi was talking about ....

keep in mind that is the AVERAGE price in Canada. The price in the west, other than Alberta, is typically higher in both Canada and the USA. Most of the refineries are in the east and south. I don't know why the local one is so expensive. Might have to do with the size of the operation, that their unit production cost is higher than those who have larger capacity.

It isn't just the price of gasoline that is skyrocketing. It seems to me the cost of almost everything that is not made in China or outsourced to India, along with most services in this country have been going up at an alarmng rate recently.

Most people in strong unions, or people with skills have the "leverage" to get their wages increased so they can keep up (or almost keep up) to the increased price of the cost of living.

People in low wage (mostly unskilled) jobs do not have this luxury.

The increase in the cost of living also must be tough on those who are retired and living on a fixed income. I think most retired people on fixed pensions are not getting enough of an increase in their pensions every year to keep up with the cost of living.

Are there any retirees out there in opinion250.com land who would care to comment on the last paragraph of my post?

"tough on those who are retired and living on a fixed income."

The specturm of that is very wide, from those who earned $35,000 and less/year when they retired, to those who earned $150,000 and more/year when they retired.

The fixed income for the first might be their old age pension and their Canada pension. If they do not have and RRSP they have been putting money into and have say, $200,000 in it now, and still owe money, they could be in for a more frugal lifestyle.

However, if they took care of their money, and lived a relatively frugal lifestyle to start with, they could be better off than the ones with a higher income who may spend money unwisely and would have mega problems adjusting.

you know though really the money stretches a bit farther than we think eventhough i'd never disagree that the prices are crazy high and gas should never be as high as it will be in summer but I was forced to budget a few years ago and its amazing what you can save when you see it all down on paper. Of course it wasn't too hard for me to save money on important things like bills and so on as I hate shopping...GASP I KNOW....so many things we have in our lives that we really could live without...like eating out and so on but just don't take my internet away!!!! Was thinking about getting out the old budget forms again.