The world's top energy producers, under pressure to meet global demand, have called instead on leading consumer states, mainly in Europe, to cut taxes on oil to alleviate hikes in prices.
OPEC, which supplies about 40 pct of world oil, and heavyweight member Saudi Arabia, made the call at the opening of the permanent seat of the International Energy Forum (IEF) in Riyadh Saturday.
As a driver of a car in North America, I have to completely agree with this. Have you ever seen the stickers on the pumps that show where each percentage of each dollar goes? I know I have. I also know that it's just a sticker, and maybe it can't be trusted, but it shows an interesting bit of information.
Most of your dollar that's flowing into your tank goes to one form of government or another through taxes. I drive a small car, so a fluctuation of a few cents really doesn't make a difference. Two cents more per litre means I pay 60 cents more per tank. Not that big of a deal. It's when the consumer drives a big SUV or a van like the one I use at work. It also makes a difference when the price of gas jumps from 89.9 cpl (cents per litre) to 139.9 cpl. That recent jump left most of us with a really bad taste in our mouths.
Sure, a hurricane in the southern U.S. is horrible, but should it affect the price of gas in Canada? I don't think so. With the amount of oil extracted each day out of Alberta, we could easily survive without OPEC. Of course, the better option would be if the prices for hybrid cars would come down, and possibly more government money could be invested in new clean technology. Maybe then the price of gas wouldn't matter so much.
Original article here
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