Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Price changes for Thursday, February 27th, 2014



Hi to all,

All numbers are based on six days data out of seven needed this week.

Here’s what I have for price changes this week. Keep in mind that the numbers for heating oil and diesel I think are still going to be way off with the addition of the winter blend of kerosene in the mix. I can’t track it, so, those numbers can only be used as a rough indicator.

The gasoline numbers should be still close however.

·         Heating and stove oils add 1.9 cents a litre.
·         Diesel fuel adds 3.3 cents a litre, and…
·         Gasoline shows an added 2.2 cents a litre at the pumps.

Gasoline continues to rise

It’s not a pretty picture being painted by the rise in gas prices the last few weeks, with gasoline prices showing steady rates of increases all well ahead of the traditional summer driving season. My past records indicate that the rise in gasoline prices ahead of the traditional start of the US summer driving season starting in mid-May, would experience a run-up in basic numbers usually at the end of March month. But this year is now the second year that we have seen a run-up in fuel prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange during the late January and February time-frame. What that is doing is giving gasoline prices a higher starting point for further price increases to occur during the early summer season, and that has the potential for a host of problems with transportation costs. That is probably a strong reason why everything in the province saw an adjusted inflation rate that surpassed the national average by an added percentage point to rest at 2.5%.

What’s needed to give pricing relief?
Besides consumers practicing conservation, we need to see an increase in refining capacity, and coupled with good strong builds in inventories. While they may sit right now at close to the same level they were this time last year, a slight improvement in the US economy has added some upwards pressures.

Rising transportation costs were already reflected in an increase to Marine Atlantic transportation charges a few weeks ago, with the company increasing rates by an added 3%. No doubt, those added costs will be passed down to everything from tourist traffic to consumer goods shipped in via truck. The federal government needs to mandate extra funding to Marine Atlantic so we can be insulated from increasing energy costs, but it makes one wonder why prices went up for us in the first place, if you consider that the new boats were supposed to be more energy efficient!

That’s it for this week!

Regards,

George Murphy
Twitter: @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Price changes for Thursday, February 20, 2014

Hi to all,

Short and sweet this week!

Here's what I have for price changes this week. Again, I will be very cautious about the numbers for heating oil and diesel as the volatility still hasn't left my numbers and is most likely way out. For some reason, this makes week #4 of inaccuracy here. The gasoline number should still be just about dead on:

Heating and stove oils show a modest drop of just a half cent.
Diesel is down by 7.4 (speaking of way out!) and...
Gasoline shows an increase of 2.3 cents a litre.

George Murphy, 

 Twitter: @GeorgeMurphyMHA 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Price changes for Thursday, February 13, 2014



Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes, keeping in mind that I'm still trying to work out the winter heating blend of fuels, those being diesel and heating oils. Those numbers will still be just a guide for now. The actual that may occur could be very well off somewhat.

Heating and stove oils show a drop of 4.8 cents a litre.
Diesel shows down by 1.6 cents a litre, and..
Gasoline shows an added 2.5 cents a litre at the pumps for Thursday.

For the week, the Canadian dollar only gained about a half penny against the US greenback. Inventories of distillates were down last week by 2.4 million barrels, still compounding the high price. Gasoline showed a very slight increase of a half million barrels and crude oils up by just 400,000 barrels.

West Texas crude oil up a rough $2 a barrel over the last week as well.

Propane inventories continue to be pounded, this time down another 800,000 barrels to sit at 30 million, 25 million barrels lower than last year for the same time-frame, so, don’t expect much relief in prices there according to the inventory numbers.


That's it for now!

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Price changes for Thursday, February 6, 2014

Numbers are in.

Keep in mind that I'm back to square one with figuring out the winter blend for heating oil and diesel. I'll have another crack at it again this week to see if I can get it right, so, the numbers for those fuels are a "rough" direction on which way they're headed. That being said, here's what I have:

Stove oils add 7.17 cents a litre.
Heating oil adds the same 7.17 cents.
Diesel adds 2.1 cents a litre, and...
Gasoline drops by 6/10ths of a cent a litre.

Pass it on!


No relief in site as propane prices have continued to rise. While I don't have any numbers on which way propane will be going this week, I can report the latest findings from the Energy Information Administration. Those numbers are startling, to say the least!

Numbers show that we're down another 3.6 million barrels as of last week, making inventories of the fuel 25 million barrels less than the same time last year. Propane inventory currently sits at just 31 million barrels overall. Brutal! Just part of the reason why everyone is paying through the teeth.

That's it for this week!


Regards,


George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA