Sask. gas prices higher than they should be: analyst

Gas retailers in Saskatchewan are making more off of your gas tank than in other places in Canada.
 
Over the past week gas prices prices have risen from 80.9 cents/litre to 89.9 cents/litre, with some stations in Regina are up at 94.9 cents/litre. Most stations in Saskatoon are at 98.9 cents/litre.
 
Roger McKnight, a petroleum analyst with EnPro, said chain gas stations are making about $0.10 per litre, which is about $0.02 per litre higher than the national average. Though he said that is the gross profit, from which the retailer has to pay out wages.
 
McKnight said prices went up this week because of a four-day surge in the price of crude oil.
 
“Prices in western Canada tend to follow the movements in crude oil.”
 
The price of crude oil went up because speculators saw that rig counts had fallen. But McKnight said that those speculators saw that crude oil inventories were extremely high on Wednesday, so the price of crude went back down.
 
McKnight couldn’t explain the jump to 94 and 98 cents per litre. He said the price shouldn’t be there.
 
When it comes to gas prices in the future, McKnight said, “it’s going to be extremely volatile, which means it’s going to go up one day and down the next.” 
 
He explained that gas prices normally start going up around this time because producers start making some changes to ramp up for the summer driving season. However, oil inventories are the highest they’ve been in 80 years so that could have an effect on keeping prices lower.

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