The following is a copy of a letter I sent off to the Prime Ministers office and the Minister of Transport for the Government of Canada on the Marine Atlantic fuel surcharge issue.

Let's see if we can get an answer!

Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister
Government of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2

Dear Mr. Prime Minister

I am writing to you today to tell you of my concern as regards to Marine Atlantic’s possible application of a round of fuel surcharges on ferry rates and what the Government of Canada can possibly do about it.

During the sailing season of June, 2007 and again in 2008, Marine Atlantic was forced to institute a round of fuel surcharges that were applied to ferry rates and passenger fares to users of the service across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This caused an undue hardship and an artificial inflation rate, especially to goods and services being used by Newfoundland and Labradoreans. Particularly hard hit was grocery items that were being transported across the Gulf by trucking companies who also recouped their added fuel surcharge expenses crossing the gulf by adding fuel surcharges onto their goods and services entering the province. In turn, these added costs were handed down to the consumer in the form of higher prices for commodities, adding more stress to consumers and businesses here.

While earlier this year (January) fuel surcharges were removed from Marine Atlantic ferry rates, prices for marine type fuels have been increasing from their near record low of last October. Prices for marine type fuels have increased since January when fuel surcharges were removed and have reached a point where Marine Atlantic will be making a decision on adding a fuel surcharge once again to Marine Atlantic ferry rates, again increasing pricing to the end user, the consumer of Newfoundland and Labrador. Today, according to my research, the price of residual fuel oils has surpassed the June, 2007 price by almost thirty per cent, making the possibility of added fuel surcharges almost imminent during the start of the auto tourist user season across the gulf. A decision by the Marine Atlantic board is due shortly on any fuel surcharge addition.


I am writing you to ask you to help Marine Atlantic absorb these costs by adding additional funding to the Marine Atlantic budget as a measure to help the Newfoundland and Labrador consumer avoid seeing an added, artificial inflation rate added to consumables as a result of added fuel costs.

This is possible for the Government of Canada to accomplish. The Government of Canada recently announced a 10.7 billion dollar investment in the automotive industry to help the Ontario economy and other areas affected by the downturn. It would be my estimate that, in order to maintain the level of consumer spending and help support the tourism industry here in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Canada could make the strategic investment into Marine Atlantic’s fuel budget to ensure consumables and visitors to this province do not get hit with added fuel surcharges.

I’m hoping that your office and the Government of Canada can turn some of its attention to this issue and I await your reply to my query.

My regards,

George Murphy
Group researcher/member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

Final update (#3)

Oil markets still in drive mode
All fuels show increases on the way

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, June 16, 2009- Oil prices are rising and so are the costs to the consumer with all fuel prices set to increase later this week, at least that’s according to George Murphy’s data.

Final numbers in
“Stronger numbers are in today that show all fuel users in Newfoundland and Labrador will experience increases in consumer prices this coming Thursday morning. With all data now in, consumers will see an added 2.01 cents per litre on heating and stove oil pricing, an added 2.8 cents a litre on diesel prices and a huge 6.6 cent a litre hike in gasoline pricing,” said Murphy

“In spite of inflation fears, investors are still betting on increased demand of fuel products. That, and a failing US dollar have also helped in supporting pricing to consumers that will be very noticeable later this Thursday morning with anticipated increases on the way.

Watch out for the gas and go
“With the increase in pump prices about to hit, consumers should be aware of the person next to them fueling up who may attempt the “gas and go”, a common type of theft whenever there is a run-up in pricing. As in other years, consumers have to be aware of the fact that this is a type of theft that gets passed down to the consumer in added costs to service stations. We can help avoid this problem by being aware of who you are filling up next to and making note of who the person is and what kind of car they are driving, getting the necessary data for . The last thing we need to see as consumers is the cost of theft being passed down to the consumer.”

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

Update #2

All numbers are up...

One more day of numbers to get and here's what I have...

• Heating and stove oils up by 1.92 a litre.
• Diesel up by 2.7 cents per litre, and...
• Gasoline up by 6.3 cents a litre.

Yes...

Going to be a line-up at the pumps again Wednesday night...

I'll be back in here sometime after eight tomorrow night with the final but don't expect to see much change...

Regards,

George

Update #1

Just wait for later this week!

If you think we just might get the rout at the pumps later on this week when the PUB sets prices again, you'd be right.

With oil prices increasing and with no signs of abatement, it's looking more positive that we're going to take quite the jolt when they are set Thursday morning. To put it mildly, when we skipped out on interruption to pricing, we just missed getting a four cent a litre hit at the pumps.

Since then, oil and all it's related refined commodities, have also increased in value.

Here's what I have for this coming Thursday, keeping in mind that I have to get two more business days of data before I call the final shot on Thursday;

• Heating and stove oil prices to increase by 1.85 cents per litre.
• Diesel prices increase by 2.6 cents a litre, and...
• Gasoline to increase by 6.1 cents a litre, so far.

Yup...

Hurts...

Talk about hijacking economic recovery...

Regards,

George

Will prices spike this week?
Numbers show interruption a possibility

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, June 10, 2009- The rise in oil prices this last week may leave a very sour taste in the mouth of consumers, that’s according to George Murphy, group researcher with the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

“I’m seeing a steady rise in the price of oil and its related commodities and that doesn’t bode well for consumers. While some numbers are close to my margin for error, I’m putting out a recommendation that we all err on the side of caution this time out because of the volatility of the markets these past few weeks. I’d much rather I was wrong more so than right sometimes,” said Murphy.

What consumers can expect this Thursday
“Numbers show large increases on the way. Heating and stove oils are expected to increase by 4.37 cents a litre, diesel by 4.7 cents a litre and gasoline by another 4.9 cents a litre. My actual on gas before the addition of taxes shows a 4.17 cent a litre increase, so that’s why the call of ‘erring on the side of caution’ in this case. The margin for error would bring it below the 4.17 cent a litre margin and hence, no increase this week. The possibility of an increase however, is much more likely than not.”

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

Update #2

Prices slightly up for this week
Increase in prices renews concerns over added fuel surcharges

Media release


Conception Bay South, NL, June 02, 2009- Most fuel prices will probably increase on Thursday but that’s not the big worry. The creep up in all fuel product prices is renewing concerns that some companies may be forced to consider the likelihood of adding fuel surcharges to account for the latest increases in prices.

Marine Atlantic costs to go up?
George Murphy, group researcher for the Consumer Group for Fair Gas prices says that businesses operating within the province should be concerned that there is a possibility that some costs will be increased because of the extra costs for fuel in recent weeks, leading to the possibility of added fuel surcharges again.

“We’re keeping an eye to Marine Atlantic who will be making the decision on added fuel surcharges later this month. The first time they did that back in 2007; prices for most marine type fuels were averaging close to 35 cents a litre when a fuel surcharge of two per cent was applied to passenger fares. As of the first of June, 2009 those numbers exceed that of 2007 by almost 2.5 cents a litre, creeping upwards in recent weeks and showing no signs of abatement. The province should immediately be concerned about any addition to prices crossing the Gulf and should be taking steps to ensure these costs are not going to be passed down to the consumer or to businesses in the province. We also have a very important tourism season to protect,” said Murphy.

“Our federal representatives should press the government in Ottawa to help the Department of Transport and the minister responsible, John Baird, absorb these added costs to Marine Atlantic. If they can step in to the automotive industry with financial assistance, they can help Marine Atlantic absorb the additional costs of marine fuels. We’re seeing the numbers increase and we still have time to deal with anything that is forth-coming provided the federal government is receptive to protecting the province from added increases to rates.”

On the consumer front
“Consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador can expect to see an added 1.77 cents a litre to heating and stove oils, an added one cent a litre to gasoline prices and 1.9 cents a litre on diesel fuels as a result of this past two weeks market activity. Even though numbers show inventories of crude oil almost 50 million barrels more than the average, prices continue to climb as a result of positive economic news. They may be positive for the provincial treasury but, it’s not so positive for the consumer when we see the removal of disposable income from the consumer’s pocket.”

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member

Update #1

Price increases coming

I'll be posting more on this tomorrow night when all the data is in, but for now, it ooks like price increases are coming.

Here's what I have so far, thirteen days out of fourteen available days data:

• Heating/stove oils up by 1.48 a litre.
• Diesel up by 1.6 a litre, and...
• Gasoline shows up by close on a penny.

A few notes for this period:

• Canadian dollar has gained by six cents against its US counterpart.
• Refiner capacity has increased to 85 per cent from last week's 83.7 per cent.
• Consumer demand for distillates measured down by 9 per cent from last year.
• Jet fuel demand down by slightly better than nine also.
• Demand for gasoline is 4/10ths of a per cent below last years levels.
• Crude stocks are almost 50 millionbarrels more than last year for the same timeframe.

More tomorrow like I say...

Regards,

George

OPEC ideas with oil prices might change your mind

If the Saudi Arabian oil minister is right, and OPEC succeeds in jacking up oil prices well above the July, 2008 record of $147 US a barrel, what would you think?

Good for the Newfoundland and Labrador treasury?

Good for the environment?

Just the other day, a CBC news story quoted Ali al-Naimi as saying that oil prices could surpass the record by the year 2012. In a nutshell, a boon for the OPEC nations that comes with much trepidation and concern for the consumers in North America and indeed, worldwide.

Consider this...

As oil prices hit the record of $147.23 a US barrel last July 7th, consumers were also facing the elevated price of heating oils that hit close on $1.24 a litre. The record heating oil price came close to killing the local heating oil industry here, leading to some radical changes in the ownership of the local dealers. Some retailers sold out leaving the industry here dominated by big oil rather than being influenced by the mom and pop operation.

If OPEC succeeds in driving prices in excess of the old record, will OPEC also succeed in killing the heating oil industry? Will we see an enforced conservation because people simply will not be able to afford to buy heating oils?

What of the affect on gasoline or diesel prices?

No doubt that pricing for refined commodities would hit the roof. The fact that OPEC is even of this way of thinking is both alarming, and a foreboding of the possibility of things to come if you're a heating oil user.

I don't think there's any consolation in OPEC's way of thinking and the provincial treasury simply would not be able to keep up even though the treasury would like the influx of cash. The reality is that OPEC is stepping on insecure ground and it's actions like driving up the price of oil could do more to impact demand by the consumer.

They could end up sshooting themselves in the foot...

But really...Isn't it time that Canadians insulate themselves from OPEC?

Your thoughts?

No change in pricing this week

Just a short note...

No change in pricing for any fuels I cover, at least for this week.

Here's what I have so far, for this pricing period;

• Heating/stove oils up by 53/100ths of a cent.
• Diesel up by 6/10ths, and...
• Gasoline up by close on 4/10ths of a cent.

Hopefully, we'll see a drop next week or, at least see prices steady.

Regards,

George

Update:

Prices to increase again
Refinery outages and political unrest increase oil pricing

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, May 19, 2009- Consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador will, again see an increase in all fuel prices when the Public Utilities Board sets prices this coming Thursday at it’s regular price-setting, that’s according to George Murphy, group researcher for the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

“Political unrest and refinery outages south of the border are being mentioned as key reasons why consumers here will see prices increase this Thursday morning. Consumers can expect to see an added two cents on gasoline prices, 2.4 cents on diesel and 2.08 cents a litre onto heating and stove oil pricing this Thursday morning,” said Murphy.

“Rumors are rampant in the markets that there is considerable disruption and loss of life in Nigeria in the delta region over these past few days. Add to that, the fact of several refinery outages and we have the impetus to see prices increase on fears of disruptions again. Even though refinery capacity and utilization rates sit at close to 84 per cent, it seems that the refinery disruption scenario is manufactured by industry and is easily curable and we know that there have been supply concerns from the Niger Delta region for years now. It is inexcusable to see prices increase to consumers with this information!

“Demand figures are, at present close to two percentage points down from last year at this same time-frame. Consumer demand for oil products such as distillates remains low at 14 per cent below last years levels. Jet fuel demand has dropped by almost 11 percentage points against last years numbers and industries numbers are telling us that prices will increase? The information available out there is telling us that consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the rest of North America are all being taken for a ride this week.

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For more information, contact:

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

Numbers up again

Just a short note as I'll have more later this evening when I have all my data. Here's what I have so far for this regulatory period:

• Heating/stove oils show a 2.06 cents a litre increase coming.
• Gasoline shows an increase of 1.2 cents a litre, and...
• Diesel shows a 2.4 cent a litre increase.

More to follow later this evening, as I have said. I'm looking for that last day of data. I don't anticipate any real changes from what I have here. I'll let everyone know in the meantime.

Regards,

George

Say good-bye to gas under a buck a litre
Numbers show interruption

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, May 12, 2009- Consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador will experience a significant jump at the pumps when they wake up on Thursday morning, that’s according to George Murphy, group researcher with the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

“Numbers show that interruption on gasoline prices will occur as a result of elevated spot prices over the last seven days, and since prices were last set by the PUB. The guidelines have been met for prices to move up, in this case by a whopping 7.1 cents a litre according to my data. My numbers do not show other fuels increasing under the rules of interruption even though they are all mostly up as well.” said Murphy.

“The last price setting showed a difference of almost 1.7 cents a litre between my data and that of the PUB. It’s probable that difference could account for prices to increase by only 5.4 cents a litre, still extreme in its outcome to consumers. While the PUB takes a measure of volatility as well, my numbers didn’t start to show that until last Wednesday, a day after the last price setting. They’ve been sky-rocketing ever since.

“Call it the usual in this case. I’m hearing the usual causes of improving economic news, an anticipated pick-up in consumer demand ahead of the summer driving season in the US, or low refinery utilization rates, it’s all there to be heard. The simple fact is that consumers enjoyed a break at the pumps and that has helped put disposable income back into consumers’ pockets. In recent weeks, we’re seeing that being taken away again. Cheap energy helps in a recovering economy. On a local level, this one hurts.”

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

Even my margin of error can't account for this one...

The last two days of market trading have been unusual, but not expected. You might have known that, with signs that the economy is picking up, they'd be going mad on the New York Mercantile Exchange floor again. With oil up almost $9.00 US the last couple of weeks,it was to be expected...

The kicker?...

Numbers for two days are showing possible interruption to occur next week,IF the trend holds up with the gasoline numbers I'm looking at right now.

Keep in mind that interruption needs seven consecutive days where the average exceeds four cents +/- from the previous price setting. My previous average from the Thursday morning upwards adjustment is 44.69 cents for the previous two weeks.

With that said, numbers here show a 5.3 cent a litre upwards movement in pricing, not including taxes. In other words, the first two days averaged 49.95 cents a litre.

Turns out that gasoline, better than a buck a litre, just might be closer than anyone thinks. Just when you thought it might be ok to spend a little more, along comes Big Oil to tank everything again.

I'll keep you all updated!

Regards,

George

UPDATE! Saturday, May 09/09

Five days now show gasoline to increase by 7.3 cents a litre. Two more days to go...

Update! Monday, May 11/09

Six days data now shows an imminent increase to gasoline pricing on the way for residents in newfoundland and labrador. With one more day of data to come, gasoline now shows an allowable increase of 7.2 cents a litre. Spread the word!

Prices to take a down-turn
For now...

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, May 6, 2009- Consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador will see a slight dip in prices for most petroleum products this week when the Petroleum pricing Office adjusts prices this coming Thursday, that’s according to George Murphy, group researcher for the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.


What consumers should see
“Both heating and stove oils should drop by close on 2.1 cents per litre, diesel also heading down another 2.2 cents per litre. Gasoline will drop by just shy of a penny, 9/10ths of a cent on a litre. If the Canadian dollar were still the same value it was two weeks ago, we’d all be looking at an increase in gasoline pricing instead,” said Murphy.

“All petroleum pricing is down slightly in spite of the increase in crude oil prices, mainly because of the performance of the Canadian dollar against the US greenback. While crude has increased by nearly $8.00 US and spot prices also increased during this time, we caught a break with the Canadian dollar gaining six cents against its cousin. Spot prices for gasoline, for example, increased by close to 15 cents a US gallon but we saw a decrease because of the Canadian dollar closing against the US.”

Summer pricing to come
“My nearest projection for summer gasoline pricing is putting the low end of prices at $1.05 a litre by the last week of June, first week of July. Usually, we see prices spike sharply during and after the US Memorial day weekend, the traditional start of the summer driving season in the US. Paring prices this year is mainly due to a couple of factors, namely; gains on gasoline inventories, sharp increases in crude oil inventory and dropping consumer demand figures. All this could change if any of these factors change, like a pick-up in consumer demand, a drop in inventories, or any further production cut from OPEC. Keep in mind that we will also soon hear about the coming hurricane season when we will all hear traders use that threat to drive up pricing.”

Eye on Marine Atlantic
“Since Marine Atlantic removed fuel surcharges, they also promised to review them sometime in June and make their call as to the placement of further fuel surcharges based on any increase in the price of marine type fuels. So far this year, those numbers are taking the same direction downwards as most distillates and, while we still have another month or so to go before they make the decision of adding surcharges again, so far those prices wouldn’t justify a move at this time. We’re keeping a close watch on this one.

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

Just a quickie!...

Hi all...

Just a quick note to let you all know what we have here so far this period...

So far, we have the following:

• Heating and stove oils down by 2.20 cents a litre.
• Diesel down by 2.3 cents a litre, and...
• Gasoline down by 1.3 cents a litre.

From the looks of things and as predicted, we're going to start to notice a gradual downhill slide with distillate prices as we get into warmer weather.

We should also start to notice that slide particularly as we see a drop in world travel, making jet fuel figures crash with the onslaught of the H1N1 virus (swine flu). Nobody is going to travel while there is a "risk' involved.

Two more days to go so, we'll keep you all updated as we get closer to Tuesday evening...

Regards,

George

Numbers are down

No price changes this week, however...

While there is something happening in the oil markets besides the threat from swine flu, there is a tense atmosphere that is persiting.

It hasn't reared it's ugly head to traders, as of yet, but it will soon.

What should be happening is a steady drop back in fuel prices along with crude oil, almost to the point where we should be slightly below $30.00 US a barrel, given the contravening evidence.

Markets are witnessing further economic damage, numbers for unemployment keep creeping upwards and inventories of crude oil and it's related, refined commodities are climbing while, the latest figures from the EIA show a slight drop in demand for gasoline and other fuels.

Distillates are bringing the bad news. Heating and stove oil demand is dropping off with the onset of warmer weather and other distillates like diesel and jet fuels, show massive drops in demand numbers, with jet fuel demand down by over nine per cent from last years numbers.

As for gasoline?

Demand numbers now show something that they haven't shown in several weeks. Demand there is also down, even though it may be a paltry .4 per cent against last years numbers for the same time period. It is a foreboding of what is to come, if traders don't notice it soon, they probably will with the next inventory data figures coming out tomorrow; that consumers are hurting out here and the swine flu will only add to the traders misery.

No one is going to travel until this crisis, in a spreading disease that has gone world-wide now, is overwith.

There's a steady trend down, especially with distillates, until the various health agencies world-wide get a grip on this one and, traders using your money and mine, just can't see it yet.

Plane tickets anyone?

In the meantime, here's what I have so far this regulation period:

• Stove oil and heating oils down by 1.94 a litre.
• Diesel down by 2.1 a litre, and...
• Gasoline down by 1.6 or 1.7 cents a litre.

Let's see what happens for the next week, shall we?

Regards,

George

Slight changes coming for fuel prices
Gas is up a little, distillates showing down

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, April 21, 2009- Consumers won’t see too many changes in fuel pricing when they are set this coming Thursday morning by the Public Utilities Board, that’s according to George Murphy of the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

What consumers will see this week
“Numbers haven’t changed a great deal over the past two weeks. The markets are at an impasse as it weighs demand against bad economic news. It’s almost like everyone is waiting for something to happen and nothing is”, said Murphy, researcher for the consumer group. Gasoline shows an added 8/10ths of a cent up while the distillates are down. Stove oils are down by 1.26 cents a litre and that could be the way of heating oils. Diesel is also set to drop by 1.2 cents.

Watching Marine Atlantic
“I’m keeping a close eye to the marine fuel numbers as they come in. They are now hanging close to where they were back in 2005, which was the year previous to any added surcharges on passenger fares. With the drop in distillate demand in recent months, it’s going to be interesting to see what Marine Atlantic will do even though we still have to go through another two months of market trading before they come to a decision on adding fuel surcharges once again. In the near term, I don’t feel there will be an increase forth-coming in June as the bad economic news does not provide that upwards pressure to pricing.

Focus off distillates
“Consumers should expect to see a gradual decline in stove, diesel and heating oil prices for the next few weeks. Diesel, an important transportation fuel, will still be susceptible to some chance of upward movement, particularly if refiners continue to cut back on capacity. We have more to fear from inventory draw-downs on gasoline that will help stabilize the price, if not increase gasoline prices slightly in the weeks leading up to the US Memorial Day holiday. We’ll be able to make a summertime prediction on peak gasoline prices by then.

OPEC to meet again
“OPEC has set its next meeting for May 28, 2009 in Vienna. The group will meet again to discuss the current economic situation and talk about the possibility of further cuts to production. It may all be for naught. Figures from the International Energy Agency show that OPEC compliance with its own self-imposed quota has been weak as of late. The group produced almost 770,000 barrels a day more than its 4.2 million barrel cut over the last year. The numbers are even more telling when last weeks report from the US Energy Information Administration reported a good build in crude oil inventory alongside draw-downs of refined products. We could be on the verge of another collapse in crude oil prices if we see more increases in crude oil inventory and continuing weak compliance with quotas.”

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices
gasprices@hotmail.com

Focus is off heating oils

Summer driving season may be a bust to oil companies

Hi to all...

Just a quickie update not to expect any big changes to pricing this week.
Here's what I have so far, with one more day's data to go.
*Gasoline measures up by 2/10ths of a cent on a litre.
*Stove oil shows down by 1.18 cents a litre which is also indicative of where heating oil will be going. Seems that the focus is off heating oils and we're probably going to start to see some steady declines here with the end of the heating season.
*Diesel also shows down by 1.2 cents a litre.

An update to my blog and a release with the final numbers will be available to all media this evening sometime after the end of today's market trading.

Regards,

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

No price changes this week

I'm fresh in the door and back at it after a short week on the west coast.

The message is simple this time...

Nothing happening with prices this week. We'll have to wait for them for next week, but in the meantime, here's what I have so far, all miniscule in nature...

• Stove oil is down by 82/100ths of a cent.
• Gasoline is up slightly by 3/10ths of a cent, and...
• Diesel is down by 6/10ths of a cent.

The stove oil number may be an indicator of where the heating oil number is as well. I'm taking notice now that we're getting into the warmer weather on the markets and distillates will be losing some steam as the summer driving season is on the way.

More on that in the coming weeks...

Regards,

George

Increases coming to stove, heating and gasoline prices

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, April 8, 2009- Consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador will experience another bump at the pumps when they wake on Thursday morning, that’s according to George Murphy of the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

What consumers will see
“There has been a lot of volatility in the markets over the past two weeks, especially with refined commodity prices. In spite of recent inventory gains for all fuel groups, prices have been up sharply one day and down the next. That overall trend is adding up to some increases in consumer pricing. Gasoline shows 2.1 cents a litre up, stove oils show 3.14 up and that could be pointing the way towards an increase in heating oil costs as well. It’s still too close to call for diesel, even though my numbers show anywhere between 2/10ths and 2.0 cents down on that fuel,” said Murphy.

Missing opportunity in Central Newfoundland?
“The closure of the Grand Falls-Winsor paper mill is reflective of lost opportunity to break into the green economy in the province. Methanol is fast taking a place as a viable energy product that is added to most fuels to help complete the burning process and can even be used by itself. It also happens to be made from fermenting wood fibre by-products. Abitibi-Bowater should be approached and partnered with the provincial and federal governments to convert the plant to, not only make paper but to refine methanol using its waste by-products that can’t be used in the papermaking process. We’re letting Central Newfoundland die on the vine and we should all be a little more forward in our thinking that we have a place and a role to play in today’s world changes to a green economy. The take-over and expropriation of the power resources belonging to Abitibi-Bowater may have complicated the chances of even approaching the company to try such a venture. Methanol could have been refined there and distributed world-wide through the petrochemical industry using Botwood as an export point; and these export points are also the import points for more conventional fuels around the province, like gasoline and heating oils. These points for transit already exist! And let’s not forget the fact that we have another paper making plant in Corner Brook that could also be on its last legs and in need of a secondary source of funds from wood fibre.

“It’s just not in central regions that a project such as this could have occurred. We have an untold number of wood harvesters and other forestry workers out there tied to an industry that failed to diversify from its sole intent; to make paper. We also have secondary industries that also are connected with the forestry sector, like the transport industry, that can benefit. Today, we can use wood and any other wood by-product, including the recycling of paper, into methanol. We also have a federal government ready to invest into greener energy technologies. The question does have to be asked however; ‘Is it too late to back up now?’

“Imagine if something like this worked, with minimal dollars to convert wood to a viable fuel. In Labrador, where there is a virtually untouched source of wood fibre, the methanol change could help bring about the demise of expensive oils used along the coast for electric generation. It can be a fuel manufactured in Labrador for the benefit of Labradorians. What we have here instead I believe, is a lost opportunity from both levels of government as well as Abitbi-Bowater, to help ensure the security of wood fibre as a source of driving an economy.”


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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices