National pump price average around 98 cents a litre
Gas prices in Toronto fell to their lowest levels in two years on Tuesday.(CBC)
The national average for a litre of gas hovered around 98 cents before noon Tuesday, while the price of crude climbed to $64.95 US a barrel in trading.
Motorists in London, Ont., and Toronto paid about 85 cents, according to the price-tracking website gasbuddy.com on Tuesday morning — the lowest price in two years.
Drivers filling up in Vancouver and Victoria paid $1.07, respectively, and the provincial average in Manitoba fell to just under $1.
Liberal MP Dan McTeague said he expects oil prices will remain at around $55 to $65 a barrel over the next few months.
"No one had predicted these prices would drop to this kind of level only four months ago and there is likelihood obviously that these prices may not remain where they are on a day-to-day basis. Overall, however, I think it's pretty clear: the trend is downwards, it's stabilized, and I think these are more in line with supply and demand fundamentals," he said.
"And of course that motorists would continue to pay here in Ontario certainly less than $1 a litre for gasoline — unless of course the oil industry decides to tack on the 10 or 12 or 15 mystery cents that they're known to try to stiff the public with."
Meanwhile, light sweet crude for December delivery fell $3.87 to $63.91 per barrel overnight.
Analyst Victor Shum, with the Singapore-based Purvin & Gertz agency, said the decline is likely attributed to the wobbly economy.
"The overriding concern is the economy in the U.S.," Shum said. "For 2008 there is unlikely to be any demand growth for oil, and in 2009 there may be some modest growth but much less than we would have seen otherwise."
With files from the Associated Press
0 comments:
Post a Comment