RON A
CHWK BC
To: Customer Service - Petro-Canada Customer Relations
I THINK IT'S FUNNY HOW YOU EXECS ARE TELLING EVERYONE THAT OIL IS PRICED
SO HIGH!
IF GROCERY STORES CRANKED UP THE PRICE OF MILK AS MUCH AS YOU CRANK UP
THE GAS PRICES ,I BET YOU WOULD BE WHINING LIKE US [CANADA]
HAVE YOU GAS EXECS THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT THESE PRICES ARE DOING TO THE
WORKIN PERSON? OBVIOUSLY YOU DON'T CARE!
I HAPPEN TO WORK IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY , WITH THESE OUT RAGEOUS
PRICES , YOUR KILLING THE AUTO INDUSTRY!
OUR COMPANY HAPPENS TO SPEND ALOT OF MONEY AT ONE OF YOUR STATIONS, I
THINK ITS TIME TO KICK PETRO CANADA TO THE CURB.
I'M SURE IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL YOU [THE GAS COMPANIES] DRIVE
PEOPLE TO VIOLENCE. SO MANY PEOPLE RELY ON THEIR CARS TO GET TO WORK,
UNFORTUNATELY , THE GREEDY EXECS NEED MONEY TO FILL UP THEIR BOATS , THEIR
FOREIGN CARS AND FEEL WE SHOULD PAY FOR IT.
IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME TILL THE DOLLAR IS AT PAR WITH THE U.S BUCK,
JUST YOU WATCH PEOPLE HEAD TO THE STATES TO BUY GAS!
OF COURSE I KNOW THAT THE AMERICANS ARE A BIG PART OF THE HIGH PRICE
GOUGING!
HOW MUCH MORE ARE YOU GOING TO BEND EVERY BODY OVER?YOU KNOW WHAT THEY
SAY" WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND" IT'S GOING TO BE FUNNY WHEN YOU CROOKS
GO TO BUY SOME FOOD AT YOUR LOCAL GROCERY OUTLET, THE MANAGER MIGHT
RECOGNIZE YOU AS ONE OF THE GAS CROOKS INSTEAD OF YOUR BILL BEING $200.00 HE
MIGHT INFLATE THE PRICE TO $4500.00
THEN YOU WOULD KNOW HOW ITS FEELS TO BE RIPPED OFF!!
From: Customer Service
To: RON A
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2006 6:44 AM
Subject: RE: RIPPING US OFF
Hello,
Thank you for raising your concerns about the high price of gasoline in
your community. Please excuse the unusual delay in our response.
In order to address your concerns, it is important to first review the
factors that impact the retail price at the pump.
There are three distinct, yet interrelated, markets that ultimately
determine retail pump prices, they are: the global market for crude oil, the
international wholesale commodity market for refined petroleum products and
the local retail marketplace. All three of these markets are intensely
competitive.
Crude oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of the pre-tax cost of a litre
of gasoline and approximately 40% of the final pump price. Crude oil prices
are set in the international marketplace and reflect global supply and
demand conditions. They are influenced by factors such as inventory levels
and geopolitical events including wars, weather, strikes and general
economic conditions. Petro-Canada purchases approximately 80% of the crude
oil for its Canadian refineries on the world market.
While the price of crude oil is the main component driving the cost of
refined petroleum products, the wholesale prices of gasoline and diesel are
also influenced by their own set of international supply and demand
pressures. Because gasoline can be easily imported and exported, prices are
greatly influenced by supply and demand factors in Europe and the U.S. as
well as Canada. Canadians tend to benefit from this as wholesale prices in
Canada must remain competitive with these international markets despite a
larger area and smaller population.
Retail fuel prices are impacted by both crude oil and wholesale gasoline
prices as well as local market conditions. While retail prices tend to
follow changes in crude and wholesale commodity prices, both up and down,
over time, they can be heavily influenced by local conditions, especially in
the short term. Factors such as market size, the level of competition, price
wars, taxes and retailing and distribution efficiencies can lead to
situations where prices sometime vary considerably between communities or
change dramatically within a short period of time.
It has been our experience that local market conditions do change over
time. Competition at the retail level is intense with new and aggressive
competitors coming into this market all the time. It is not uncommon for
prices to exhibit more or less volatility or move to higher or lower levels
as the dynamics of a given market change.
Nevertheless, retail fuel prices in Canada are still the second lowest in
the industrialized world. Only the United States has lower average gasoline
prices than Canada and the difference between our retail fuel prices and
theirs is taxes - not marketing margins, not refining margins, not profits.
In fact, taxes are the largest single component in the retail price of
gasoline accounting for about 44%, or just over 30 cents per litre, of the
average pump price in Canada in 2002. The combination of taxes and crude oil
costs together represents just over 80% of the price at the pump. The
remaining 20% must cover all costs of refining transporting, distributing,
marketing and retailing and provide for a reasonable return on investment.
Petro-Canada’s profit from its refining and marketing operations in 2002 was
approximately 1.2 cents per litre on all products sold or about 2% of the
average pump price.
At Petro-Canada, we take the concerns of our customers very seriously and
have worked hard over the last few years to do a better job of explaining
how our business works. We are proud to operate our businesses in a fair,
ethical and responsible manner and look forward, through our local retailers
in your area, to continue serving your petroleum needs.
If you require further information, please contact us. Our Customer
Service lines (1-800-668-0220 English and 1-800-668-0222 French) are open
Monday to Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Eastern Time).
Sincerely,
Petro-Canada Customer Relations
1-800-668-0220
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