Winnipeggers are seeing some unpleasant numbers on the signs at local gas stations this week, but according to one expert, Manitoba has it easy compared to other parts of the country — and compared to what we could see a few months down the line.
Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, told 680 CJOB Thursday that Winnipeggers should feel lucky that prices above $1.60 a litre are all they’re paying so far.
“If it makes you feel any better, tomorrow morning, Vancouver has to wake up to $2.01 for the regular gasoline that you would normally get self-serve,” McTeague said.
“Toronto’s going to $1.749 tomorrow. Montreal, $1.88. You’re going to see the Maritimes, probably by this point tomorrow, shoot up about 15 cents to $1.92 a litre.
“Count your blessings — your taxes are a little slower in that gas stations are only taking a small nine-cent retail margin, because the rest of the country is seeing a lot more pain inflicted on it, and it could get a lot worse.”
McTeague said prices are going up because gas stations are spending a few cents more a litre to refill the gasoline they’re selling — and they’re left without a lot of options if they want to turn a profit.
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“I guess most gas stations had no choice but to throw in the towel, and that’s why we’re seeing $1.63 as an average price across Winnipeg — and likely to spread across the province as well.”
As for what’s driving the increase, he puts the blame on the current war in Ukraine.
“With Russia attacking Ukraine, Russia produces about 10 per cent of the global supply of oil,” he said. “We’re moving now to finally sanction that country, which means its supplies are very much at risk, and we do so in a market where the world is very under-supplied in oil.”
While gassing up passenger vehicles is starting to get pricey, McTeague said that’s not the biggest concern facing Canada. The price of diesel, he said, is going up at an even faster rate, and it affects everything from farmers to truck drivers to the rail and aviation industries.
“Diesel is king — it’s the fuel that runs the world and in a cold country like Canada it definitely runs the economy.
“I hear a lot of people saying, I don’t drive a car, I take public transit — well, guess what, that bus drives by diesel… or natural gas. The price of that is going to go up — the price of pretty much every input that we use in this economy, including food.”
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