Cost of diesel... WTF?!

[foxycanuck]

Okay, what is up with the cost of diesel. I have the van in the garage for 3 weeks, I get it back on the road today and diesel has jumped 20-30 cents per litre! Anyone know the story? Gas is way cheaper right now... I can fill with premium for less than diesel.

[Island Hopper]

http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/index.p ... Itemid=421

[mararmeisto]

Apparently we refine diesel in only a single refinery in Canada, and a few weeks ago there was a problem, so now there's a shortage.

It reminds me of an incident when a single ship was hijacked last year off the coast of Africa and that was the excuse given for a dime increase in the cost of gasoline!

A big bucket of barnacle sauce (as Spongebob would say), but whatcha gonna do?

[CREGAN]

I love how if a light bulb goes out in the refinery we are screwed. There are several stations here that are completely out of diesel, and the ones that have it are charging 1.30 a L. There is a huge dependance on diesel here in Alberta because so many "work trucks" are diesel (Rig Rockets). I know that is still pretty good for some of you west coasters because I traveled to Van last week and I filled up at a few stations where it was 1.45 a L. It is all such BS. They seem to do it every winter now where gas and diesel both spike up a huge amount, and then whatever global crisis gets settled and it goes down slightly (not as low as it was before the spike mind you) - and we are more than happy to pay the still increased price because it is less than it was at the spike. Make sense?

Craig

[1994delicaman]

The price of diesel in Canada is ridiculous, so thats why I buy my diesel form the USA.

[jessef]

we should stop whining. look at what the rest of the world pays.

I agree though. it happens every winter whether it's the 'winter blend' or someone shutting of a valve by accident.

as a semi-famous person once said ..

"It is what it is" ~ Bertuzzi

[CREGAN]

as a semi-famous person once said ..

"It is what it is" ~ Bertuzzi

Quoting the Uzzi - Awesome! True, it just gets annoying.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Yeah, what are we complaining about? We should just bend over and take it like real men.

[nxski]

Is the term take it like a man meant to be an oxymoron? Because I've always interpreted it as such.

I know the fuel in England for example is more than double what ours is but it's still no fun watching more and more money come out of your pocket. I'm just happy I rarely pay for my own fuel but with my road-trip coming up in May I hope the prices head down and don't spike again until next winter when I arrive home.

[Slimdog]

we should stop whining. look at what the rest of the world pays.

If we are looking at what the rest of the world pays I will take Venezuela's pump price or any other south American country.

[jessef]

Yeah, what are we complaining about? We should just bend over and take it like real men.

Maybe if your a woman Falco

If you lived in the UK now, you can make the argument that Canadian diesel is much cheaper.

Plus we have locally made wvo kits that work well in these vehicles. There's a good alternative and/or lesser cost than diesel at the pump.

[foxycanuck]

Thanks for the info on the refinery guys... that's what I was looking for.

If you want to compare to the UK lets be fair... they get paid in british pounds, which are also worth much more than our dollar.

As well, they tend to have AMAZING public transport, cities designed for people to walk in, mild weather for biking or walking, and they import the fuel from US!

I don't think gas should be cheap, as we need to value it as an important resource, but for context, I was on Easter Island, and gas there was the same price as it was in Calgary. Easter Island is literally the most distantly remote inhabited location on the planet. There is only 1 airline permitted to land there (there's only one runway, and if a plane got stuck an incoming flight would be forced to crash), and for about 4 months a year its almost impossible for supply ships (which rarely go there anyway) to land because of the 50+ foot waves. The ins and outs of the industry aside... how can gas be cheaper there than Vancouver!?

I've thought about WVO, but I really know very little about how to use/install the kits, and I know there are a lot of pitfalls if you do it wrong.

Anyway, I know they always give an excuse for a sharp rise in the price... good to know what it is.

[konadog]

Fuel is cheap as dirt - people are happy to pay more for a liter of water that comes free and clean and lovely from the tap... Fill up the deli, load it with tons of gear and whiz along the open road at 110 km - seems like a good deal to me...

[FalcoColumbarius]

Yeah, what are we complaining about? We should just bend over and take it like real men.

Maybe if your a woman Falco

If you lived in the UK now, you can make the argument that Canadian diesel is much cheaper.

Plus we have locally made wvo kits that work well in these vehicles. There's a good alternative and/or lesser cost than diesel at the pump.

As Foxy says ~ it's all relative. When I lived in the UK in the '80s, fuel was expensive compared to Canada but I also got paid more. Comparatively, then we can look at places like Libya and Iran where fuel is around fourteen cents per litre. What I find odd is diesel is a by-product of gasoline in every refinery, which is why it was half the price... until recently.... why is that?

Falco.

[foxycanuck]

Yeah but Konadog, bottled water is an incredible scam. People are really paying for the convenience of not having to carry and wash a reuseable bottle. The markup is in the neighbourhood of 3000%. People who spend the money on bottled water might as well put their money in a nice little pile and light it on fire. Heck, even places with bad tapwater, for a few hundred bucks (the cost of a few hundred litres of bottled water) you can get filters that will make ANY fresh water drinkable.

Again, the overall price isn't horrific yet, but when the price jumps almost 30% in a couple weeks, it makes a guy curious.