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Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
Don't feel so bad, at least not yet. Watching CNN last night, I saw pictures of gas price boards down south showing between five and six dollars per gallon! Ten dollars' worth limit per purchase... methinks the shyte is going to hit the fan.
And Jon's right - we are a net exporter of petroleum... if our oil companies come in next quarter with record profits, I'm going to be pissed. The government won't do anything about it though... not only do they make more money every time thee prices go up, probably half the cabinet ministers are sitting on substantial chunks of pertroleum stocks and futures.  :
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Fortunately, that was a sole Shell station in Georgia that was price gouging for a short while. The price here in Texas spiked at $3.09 per U.S. Gallon (3.8 litres) and has been dropping slowly since; now $2.72 per gal. Still outrageous!
Why are prices so high? Law of supply and demand kameraden! World wide demand for oil has increased dramatically. China mainly and India as well are rapidly becoming more industrialized and are working diligently to secure future oil supplies for their burgeoning industries. China has been actively seeking to purchase American oil companies. There has also been an unrelenting series of events worldwide in recent months to keep the global supply's ability to meet the global demand in doubt; oil worker's strike in Venezuela, Iraq war, loss of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, two explosions at B.P. refineries in Texas City, lack of refineries to meet E.P.A.'s new requirements to remove Sulphur from oil and gas. All this and more have kept upward pressure on oil and gas prices by futures traders. And of course, price gouging by Oil companies!
Now, for Canada you have no further to look than Brian Baloney and NAFTA. With the signing of NAFTA there was no more domestic price for domestic oil and natural gas reserves. All were to be sold at world prices lest the Americans scream "UNFAIR!" Well I remember watching my heating bill soar year after year! The effects of NAFTA are well known to anyone in B.C. who have seen softwood imports face countervailing duties imposeed by the U.S. over what they perceive as subsidized "Stumpage rates" What ever happened tp good ol' competition anyway?
So, mes amis, what to do about it? Firstly, I refuse to buy anything that isn't made in Canada or the U.S. I boycott items made in China as much as possible. When I phone a call centre and are greeted by Apoo from the Simpsons, I ask to be connected to a "local" call centre. It's only one man's attempt to fight back, but every journey begins with a single step.