PumpTalk - Petro-Canada

Friendly Winter Safety Reminders

Now I’m not trying to hurry-up winter.  And I’m definitely not wishing for more snow.  But as we move into the holiday season, I think it’s a perfect time to re-focus, and look for ways to keep safe.

Safety is a core value for our company, and as I read some the helpful hints sent to employees, I realize that they translate well into most workplaces or even at home.

So in the spirit of sharing – I offer you some helpful reminders on staying safe this season.

Slowly, but surely...

As Jason mentioned in his last post – we’ve had quite a busy and interesting summer.  We have successfully merged into a new company, and are now getting back into the daily swing of things.  Because of the merger process and with getting our new team up to speed, the blog was put on the back burner.

Over the last few months, we have received several comments and questions.  We are currently sorting through them, and committed to answering as many as possible. 

In the next while, we will take your questions and create a top ten-like Q&A post that should bring us up to date.

Also, something else to look forward to….  We will be introducing some new (Jason, Val, Victoria, Lisha & Kate) and returning (Michael & myself) contributors shortly.  Look for the bios to be posted soon.

Thanks for sticking with us during this process. 

Cheers.

Corinn
(Contributor & Editor)

Let's continue the conversation…

At the mall the other day, I saw a sign that read "Please excuse our dust - we are renovating to serve you better." I immediately thought of Pumptalk. 

It has certainly been a busy stretch for our company, and as Jon pointed out in his 'good-bye' post, a time of tremendous change.  The merger of Suncor Energy and Petro-Canada has consumed us over the past few months.  However, through it all, we remained committed to keeping Pumptalk alive and well.

Thanks. It's been a gas.

How do you say goodbye to a blog?  As you can see by the date of my last post, it's taken some time for me to figure that out.   I started writing my last post a few times, but scrapped them all as they just didn't seem to work.  Why?  Well, because even as an author, I'm just a participant in the discussion.  If I was leaving a group discussion at a party, I wouldn't go around hugging everyone while tearfully saying goodbye.   It would seem a little odd.  So let me just say a few thanks and let you keep the discussion going.

You have questions? We have answers.

We've noticed a lot of new traffic to PumpTalk since the little stickers went on gas pumps across the country a few weeks ago.  First off - thanks for dropping by.  This blog was started almost 2 years ago to help answer the many questions you and pretty much every other driver has about gas prices.  When we launched, I thought we might just be talking to ourselves and a few family members, but the number of visitors continues to grow.   We've had some really interesting (and sometimes heated) discussions and they are archived on the site for all to see.  

For those of you who are new to PumpTalk, I've assembled a list of links to posts that answer some of the fundamental and recurring questions.  If you don't see your question answered, please post it in a comment and we'll get to it.  

What about diesel?

From time to time I get a few questions about diesel pump prices.  I haven't talked about diesel prices in a while, so before you VW drivers storm my office (a Jetta Vendetta?), let me share with you a good article by Tyler Hamilton of the Toronto Star.  As much as I like his last name, there is no known relation.

Photo Credit: futurowoman

  

Your biggest driving cost? It doesn't rhyme with vasoline.

The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) has released it's latest Driving Costs brochure to help you understand how much it costs to operate a vehicle every year.  While we often focus on the most direct costs - fuel and maintenance, it's interesting to see the total cost break down per kilometre for other things such as insurance, license fees and depereciation. 

Not surprisingly, the total cost of driving a car, according to CAA research, has almost doubled in the last 23 years from 20.1 cents per kilometre driven in 1985 to 38.5 cents per kilometre in 2008.  What's behind that change? Should my wife have kept that sassy late-80's burgundy K-Car she drove while at University?  Answers to all this and more below...

Gas Pump Calibration Coincidental Email Chain

This is a true story, so read it carefully...

That sentence looks kind of goofy as I write it, but it seems to have magic powers when attached to an email.  The latest one making the rounds has to do with gas pump accuracy/inaccuracy.  By the time it got to me, it had already landed in hundreds of email boxes, so I'd like to offer a response.  If you haven't already recieved it, let me bring you up to speed.

Gas Prices: Up at little? Yes, but compared to what?

 

I heard some of the usual radio bits about the gas prices going up because of the Victoria Day weekend.  First off, I hope everyone had a safe and happy long weekend.  Second, now that the fireworks are over, let's pause for a little context. 

Crude oil and wholesale gasoline prices have been on an upward tick on the commodity markets the last few weeks, taking the price at the pump up a few cents per litre.  So, compared to a few days ago, gas prices are up.  But take a look at the chart above that maps out Canadian average gas prices for the last three years.  The red one represents the year we're living in.  The blue one is last year and the green...well the year before that (2007).  So, while gas prices have eked up in recent days, your May Long weekend fill up cost you about $20 less than it did last year.  Not bad.  If Queen Victoria's face was on the $20 bill, I'd have a great ending to this post.  Instead, I'll settle for the $20 portrait of Queen Elizabeth that's now tucked safely into my jeans. 

Chart: Fuel Focus

Higher commodity prices take gas grices to highest level in 2009

So why have pump prices gone up in the last week or so?  As I've said before, if you watch the commodity markets and follow what happens to crude oil and wholesale gasoline, you'll get a good sense of where the price of gasoline is going to go.  The signs clearly pointed up this week.

On Friday, crude oil finished an uphill climb by hitting it's highest level since last November. You can find more here as well.  Wholesale gasoline prices also went up, with many citing positive economic news as the reason for the uptick in both.  As a result, combined with a smaller build in inventories than expected, upwards movement on the commodity markets have pushed pump prices up across North America.