Will gas prices could soon tumble 23%?

We’re all outraged at the price of gas this week but there may be some hope on the horizon, sccording to the Toronto Star’s David Olive.

Olive said he expects the price per litre to tumble by 23 per cent starting as early as this week. That could lower the cost to between n $1.14 and $1.23 per litre. That will be welcome new if it happens, but it is still far higher than the 96 cents a litre we were paying at this time last year. And if the oil companies were still making a healthy profit at that price, imagine how much money they are raking in right now thanks to the oil speculators and our market-driven economy.

I know it runs counter to the trend right now with our Conservative majority in Canada and the rise of the Tea Party in the U.S., but gas prices is one area where we could use a little more government control. Our governments certainly have no qualms about taxing gasoline to death, so perhaps they should become a little more involved in stabilizing the price for consumers.

Why must hard-working Canadians be subject to the whims and fears of oil speculators who seize on every opportunity to take crude prices on a rollercoaster ride? Remember when gas prices shot up even before Hurricane Katrina battered the southern U.S.? Currently, the speculators are said to be concerned about the rising Mississippi River and pro-democratcy protests in the Middle East. Never mind that oil reserves are in good shape and production in the Middle East is ticking along quite nicely.

Of course, we should also mention that gas taxes are another big factor behind what we pay and one of the main reasons why our neighbours to the south pay far less than us right now. According the Star’s Olive, prices in America range from 89 cents a litre in Wyoming to $1.59 a litre in Hawaii. Of course, everything costs more if you live on an island and the majority of U.S. states are closer to the Wyoming price.

Another frustration for motorists here in Canada is the wide range of prices you can pay at the pumps. How is that I pay $1.40 a litre in a large urban centre like Toronto while drivers in Cobourg, Ontario pay 11 cents a litre less? Why are Winnipeg residents paying $1.23 while Vancouverites living in a port city pay $1.44? It just doesn’t make sense.

Gas prices need greater regulation in this country, not only because it will help average Canadians, but also because it will help our economy remain stable.

Advertisement