Somethings wrong – taxes, Canadian oil company profits margins, etc…

The point of having prices rise instantly and drop sloooowly is a good one.

How many inquiries have there been in gasoline pricing and how many price fixing findings have there been – one. A couple distributors and retailers in backwoods Quebec.

You are starting to sound like the 9/11 truthers.

The response to them and to you guys is to ask that do you really think that a conspiracy so succesful that it pulls off an incredible result, whether knocking down the WTC or overcharging on every litre of gasoline, diesel and heating oil produced by hundreds of oil producers and sold through thousands of independent distributors and retailers wouldn’t have left any record or had one of the thousands of participants required to pull it off spill the beans?

Gas prices are high because of high taxes (including taxes on taxes). high commodity prices (world pricing which brings in large political risk premiums and some, not as much as people think, speculation premiums), refinery problems (they are old, inefficient and there aren’t enough of them, but try to build a new one), supply and distribution issues (see note on refineries above). Then we can talk about governments raising royalties and carbon capping/taxing/abatement/sequestration.

The oil and gas companies make large profits on an absolute basis, but look at the returns on capital and they are deep in pack of industries.

The retailers have a better margin on the crap they sell in the variety stores that go with the gas stations than they do on the gas itself.

Go here: http://edmontongasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx

Plot the prices for yourself. With the exception of a few blips in 2004 and 2005 Toronto is ALWAYS below the national average.

Add vancouver to the plot (do vancouver, toronto, and the Canadian average for the last 5 or 6 years and you’ll see) and you’ll see just how badly they’re getting screwed out there. But if you really want your head to explode sub out one of them for the USA average. Oddly enough it’s almost EXACTLY what the Canadian average is once you take away fuel taxes. This shouldn’t be a surprise since everyone buys on the open market for the same price – Canada just slaps all kinds of extra taxes on it.

Canadians are getting the royal screw, but Vancouverites are definitely in a special class of gasoline gouging.