Last Thursday was another bad day. I finished work, and rushed to the day-care to pick up my son. Then, like many, many other Canadians did, I dashed to the nearest service station to fill up before the inevitable. Before the gas price would rocket upwards--again.
Although I got there and filled up on time, I did not like what I saw. I filled up my press car at a... ahem... "bargain" $1,09 a litre. The SUV needed 47 litres to top up the tank, and cost me $53. Now, if the price went up to $1,99 a litre like the rumours anticipated, the same amount of gas would have cost me about $94 instead. Saving $41 was well worth the 15-minute wait in line at the pumps.
However, while I was sitting there, I saw despair in the faces of some, frustration in the eyes of others. 4 lines of about 10 cars each, trying to squeeze in and get gas. Cars coming in from both sides of the pump islands, stopping abruptly within an inch of each other, their drivers stepping out and yelling at one another. People were taking gas cans out of their trunks and pickup beds, as well as some who loaded up their ATVs in the trailer to gas up at the same time. Not quite a panic, but a commotion nonetheless.
And then, there's the not-so-obvious things happening at the same time. People who take off without paying, gas stations that run out of fuel and have to lock the door, and the dirty looks that people filling up their jumbo SUVs are getting from others.
I left for work the next morning, and was shocked to see that the price or regular unleaded was... still $1.09 a litre. All that commotion and stress the evening before was for nothing. What caused this mess? As far as I know from what I saw on the news, an independent Petro-Canada retailer had jacked up his price to $1.67 by mistake. Sorry, but as a consumer I don't believe for one second that it was a goof, but rather a test. The fact that they can raise the price from $1.10 to $1.70, and bring it back down again after a couple of unsuccessful hours, shows just how we're being manipulated.
Mr. Martin, your fellow citizens are not happy. We all expected the price of gasoline to rise at one point, but this is ridiculous.
I'm no economist, but I'm not stupid either. The Canadian government is swimming in a budget surplus once again this year--great, except that it obviously ends up coming out of us taxpayers' pockets.
To make things worse, just as the gas prices are rising faster than advertising agency presidents can drink glasses of water on trial, Oil companies are raking in record profits, year after year. To me, when any other type of company faces an increase in supply costs, they either strive to reduce their production costs, increase overall efficiency, and/or absorb a portion of it. They do this to keep the price of their products competitive, to keep their customer base loyal and happy, and to show just how good players they are by putting another hole in their belt and tightening it. But the not oil companies, they'll just shoot up the price at the pump--to hell with the customer because he needs gas anyway, right? And competition between the oil companies is nonexistent because they all sell their gas at the exact same prices. That, Mr. Martin, is called a cartel. Isn't that illegal?
Are you taxpayers out there thinking what I'm thinking? I think we're paying too much for gasoline.
Of course, everyone knows that there are factors associated with the price hike. Car sales in China have exploded, and there are a lot of people over there that now need gas. And of course, the recent hurricanes Katrina and now Rita, menace a portion of the American oil production.
 |
| (Photo: Michel Deslauriers, Auto123) |
However, while I was sitting there, I saw despair in the faces of some, frustration in the eyes of others. 4 lines of about 10 cars each, trying to squeeze in and get gas. Cars coming in from both sides of the pump islands, stopping abruptly within an inch of each other, their drivers stepping out and yelling at one another. People were taking gas cans out of their trunks and pickup beds, as well as some who loaded up their ATVs in the trailer to gas up at the same time. Not quite a panic, but a commotion nonetheless.
And then, there's the not-so-obvious things happening at the same time. People who take off without paying, gas stations that run out of fuel and have to lock the door, and the dirty looks that people filling up their jumbo SUVs are getting from others.
I left for work the next morning, and was shocked to see that the price or regular unleaded was... still $1.09 a litre. All that commotion and stress the evening before was for nothing. What caused this mess? As far as I know from what I saw on the news, an independent Petro-Canada retailer had jacked up his price to $1.67 by mistake. Sorry, but as a consumer I don't believe for one second that it was a goof, but rather a test. The fact that they can raise the price from $1.10 to $1.70, and bring it back down again after a couple of unsuccessful hours, shows just how we're being manipulated.
Mr. Martin, your fellow citizens are not happy. We all expected the price of gasoline to rise at one point, but this is ridiculous.
 |
| (Photo: Michel Deslauriers, Auto123) |
To make things worse, just as the gas prices are rising faster than advertising agency presidents can drink glasses of water on trial, Oil companies are raking in record profits, year after year. To me, when any other type of company faces an increase in supply costs, they either strive to reduce their production costs, increase overall efficiency, and/or absorb a portion of it. They do this to keep the price of their products competitive, to keep their customer base loyal and happy, and to show just how good players they are by putting another hole in their belt and tightening it. But the not oil companies, they'll just shoot up the price at the pump--to hell with the customer because he needs gas anyway, right? And competition between the oil companies is nonexistent because they all sell their gas at the exact same prices. That, Mr. Martin, is called a cartel. Isn't that illegal?
Are you taxpayers out there thinking what I'm thinking? I think we're paying too much for gasoline.
Of course, everyone knows that there are factors associated with the price hike. Car sales in China have exploded, and there are a lot of people over there that now need gas. And of course, the recent hurricanes Katrina and now Rita, menace a portion of the American oil production.