I cannot comprehend why gas prices are so high compared to the price of oil per barrel today.
Last year in June, the oil was $115 a barrel, and the price at the pump of regular gas was around $1.50 a litre.
In January 2015, when price of oil fell to $45 a barrel, the price at the pump sank to $1 a litre.
These days the price at the pump is around $1.33 per litre, when the oil price per barrel is hovering around $60.
After a $15-hike per barrel (from $45 to $60), the price at the pump has gone up around 30 cents a litre. So what is the logic behind the high price at the gas pumps?
What appears to be behind the scenes is the secret and manipulative agenda of the oil companies to prepare the motorists psychologically to accept the price hike in the future. They want to maximize their profits either way.
For instance, if oil prices stay where they are right now, then during the peak summer season, the price can gradually be raised to $1.50 a litre. If for any reason a barrel of oil goes to $100 a barrel, then companies would not hesitate to hike gas prices to close to $2 a litre, based on their current hike-ratio phenomenon.
There is no other reason to gouge the public other than sheer greed. This is a cold-blooded, merciless rip-off of people in general when they have no choice but to fill up at the pump regardless of the price.
Something needs to be done at the federal and provincial levels to muzzle the greedy behaviour of the multi-national oil companies. Otherwise the public will continue to be penalized in the wallet.
Kalwant Singh Sahota
Delta