Way back in August 2007, when we first started the PumpTalk blog, one of the first posts we had was about gasoline pricing being like a three-layered sandwich.
PumpTalk has taken on a lot of issues and talked about many different parts of our industry since then. Over the last several weeks, as we have been re-casting the team who contribute to the blog you’ve met our new contributors and we’ve talked about a number of other new issues.
I thought it was maybe time to point you back to that post and to highlight some of the other information resources that are available to learn more about fuel pricing. A number of different government sources pay very close attention to what’s happening with fuel prices across the country. For example, in Ontario you can subscribe a weekly newsletter from the Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure called the Gasoline Report that provides information about what is happening to the price of fuel, comparing prices week to week, and from one community to another. From the federal government, and Natural Resources Canada, there is a webpage called FuelFocus that provides information about different fuel prices, and the trends that are taking place in retail and wholesale markets.
What I believe is most important when looking at retail fuel prices, and this maybe doesn’t come through in the sandwich analogy, is that no one factor alone, whether it is the price of crude oil, wholesale gasoline prices or local market dynamics will tell you in isolation what is happening with the price at the pump. The clubhouse sandwich was a good place to start, but if we are going to continue the food analogy, I almost think looking at an omelette is a better description… The price we pay at the pump is a blend of many different factors and it is difficult to look at any one of the individual layers and then use that to determine where the price is going to be.
Photo Credit: bopuc
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