What you should know:
We feel that these are some important facts that you should know that we have learned in our first 7 months of exploring the important topic of "FAIR gas prices".
We will add more to let you know as we go on in the coming months.
1) Oil companies have the right to be profitable in their gasoline prices.
We, as consumers, and as a group, are looking for "FAIRNESS".
2) Gasoline presently, at 68.9 cents/litre-$20/barrel mark, is 3 cents/litre off
the 1991 level of $30/barrel when gasoline was priced at 71.9 cents/litre.
We believe that, should the price of a barrel of oil hit the $30 level, the gas
price could be 30% higher than your present price at the pump now?
*** The present wholesale price (RACK), is 24 cents/ litre. Should the future wholesale price
hit 30 cents /litre, the gas price will climb another 6 cents/ litre at the pump.
3) Independant dealers are a dying breed of business man, and they deserve FULL
CONSIDERATION, whenever we buy.
4) The low price is not always the FAIR price. some independants become victims,
of what is known in the market as Predatory Pricing. The company dealer's costs
are absorbed by the company, forcing the little guy out of business.
This leads to a company OWNED marketplace, and then they can charge what they want.
5) Your vehicle, if it is newer, requires a higher octane than the often quoted
regular unleaded price. Should you use the cheaper gas, you will eventually cost
yourself with car problems(engine knock, burnt valves, high gas consumption, etc.)
Mid grade fuel is the minimum standard some of today's cars demand. This is an
extra cost for you. The lowest present cost for mid grade gas, here in St. John's,
is 71.9 cents/litre (the 1991 level).
6) Oil companies make extra money from the byproducts of the refining process,
that we have not yet explored. Among them being propane, butane, sulfur, diesel
(furnace oils), benzene, natural gas, plastics & waxes.
Most of these you know, and are sold at extra profits to the companies, that
most never consider, when accounting for the setting of gas prices.
7) Oil companies are a very secretive lot and don't like it very much when they
are scrutinized by the public eye. It is very hard, but we believe to be possible,
to get proper pricing policies from these companies, but with Government help.
8) Most gas stations that are company owned face costs of approximately
$150,000 / year. Double the volume of gas sold, add 10% to this bottom line cost
for the average gas station. This comes from an industry source.
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9) The present WHOLESALE cost, otherwise known as the "RACK" price, is presently, 24 cents/litre.
Should the future wholesale price hit 30 cents/ litre, we will face an extra 6 cent/ litre increase.
10) After the last round of increases, in the Month of May, the average Nfld gas price, was 7 cents /litre above the National Average.
As of the latest round of increases on July 14 of this year, that gap has INCREASED to 10 cents above the National Average.