One industry analyst has a simple explanation for the higher gas prices that jolted motorists Wednesday in major 91原创 centres: "greed."
Pump prices perked up six cents a litre to $1.279 on Wednesday morning around Greater VIctoria - but that was mild compared to some other cities.
The shock at the gas pumps was particularly acute in Montreal, where prices soared by as much as 13 cents a litre. The price of regular in the Montreal area was set at just under $1.53 a litre, an increase of almost 20 cents since the start of summer.
Gasoline prices across southern and eastern Ontario also rose by about 3.4 cents, according to the website tomorrows gas prices today.com. That put the price of regular in the greater Toronto area at just under $1.37 a litre, and $1.34 in the Ottawa area.
Roger McKnight of EnPro International says he's checked over a number of the usual factors - supply and demand, refinery problems and inventories in the U.S. - all of which dictate prices in Canada.
"There's no reason for [gas prices] to be going up," he said in an interview.
"None whatsoever." McKnight, an independent industry analyst whose company is based in Oshawa, Ont., says prices should actually have gone down because the 91原创 dollar has increased in value.
"When the 91原创 dollar goes up in value, your prices should actually be dropping, but they actually went up," he said.
"So I'm going to have to use the word, 'greed,' insofar as the oil companies are concerned.
He said that when it comes to refining capacity, Canada suffers from a lack of competition because it has only 14 refineries. The U.S., with just over nine times the population size, has more than 10 times the number of refineries - 144 of them - according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The petroleum analyst has a suggestion for people with gas guzzlers who grumble about prices: switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
"I think it's probably in the range of 25 to 30 per cent more efficient," he said.
McKnight points to the U.S. where he says gasoline demand has been down for three years in a row because of the tendency toward smaller cars.
Another analyst who provides services to the industry offers a more generous interpretation for the price hikes. Jason Parent is with Kent Marketing of London, Ont., which offers data and consulting services to the petroleum sector.
He says there are good reasons for the increase in gas prices - and "sometimes you have to dig and scratch to find them."
Parent says wholesale prices have been coming up over the last week and significantly so in the last few days, with several factors coming into play.
"One is the refineries that were shut down because of the hurricane in the southern States," he said. "They are back on line but that put a huge crimp in the supply which flows all the way up the eastern seaboard in the U.S. and into Canada."
Parent says there have also been refinery issues in the Detroit and Chicago areas where there were planned shutdowns for various reasons, including maintenance.
"That's what's driven prices up recently - despite the fact that the price of crude has been relatively steady," he said.
He also said that retailers are forced to introduce a larger increase in gas prices in order to get a more sustainable profit margin.
"It's the way the competitive dynamic works in that area where prices go up significantly [and] they go down significantly," he said.
