Discussions

that Kind of jump in one day is just about as big as I can remember. Seemed a little “lucky” to have prices stable as long as they were with the run oil’s on. Scary part is, depending on who you ask prices could have a lot of room to run yet.   
 
Wayway gas bar on Hwy 10 was quite the hot spot as of about 10 min ago with them still selling at 127.9. 15 cents is nothing to spit at on a 40 litre fill, but a guy might burn through most of those savings on a round trip depending on what they drive and how empty the tank is!

Its always frustrating with this kind of jump and frustrating to be paying prices that aren't really that far from double where they were during pandemic lows.  
 
Someone that knows more might chime in, but a big part of what we're seeing is I believe the spike in oil demand tied to the out-of-this-world increase in nat gas prices in Europe and Asia. Some are having to switch to oil for energy, technically competing with you for the oil that goes into your car:  
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2021/10/4/saudi-aramco-reports-higher-oil-demand-from-natural-gas-crisis  
 
Blame ultimately mostly lies with OPEC, who are sticking with the plan of under-producing and only gradually raising levels to prop up prices as demand recovers from Covid. They said yesterday that they'd be holding to that plan for only gradual increases until at least December. Chart at the link tells the story (choose at least the 3 year view).... If producers were producing at levels they were pre-Covid there'd be no chance of this kind of rise in prices:  
https://ycharts.com/indicators/world_crude_oil_production  
 
It stings as a driver and there are costs that make their way down to the consumer from businesses that use gasoline as an input (eg delivery) that I'd be concerned for if this keeps up. If it stays high for long there are also benefits with Canada's economy being so tied to the industry, as much as long-term the world is on a path to eventually transitioning away from it. The shoe that I noticed hasn't dropped yet is the Canadian dollar, which if it does head up is a bit of a double-edged sword. Good for buying from out of country, not so good for those who sell!  
 
As far as some of the inflation themes we're seeing, the other one to watch for is effect of fertilizer costs on food. Love to hear from one of our more ag-experienced posters on their experiences and how they might see that playing out.  
 
Also keeping an eye on lumber. Nobody's talking about it right now because of how far things have come down from the insanity of earlier this year, but futures seem to have been starting to head North over the last few weeks and are actually sitting at a level that's well above historical norms. Not sure what people are paying in-store right now compared to usual?

A lot of opinions out there on inflation, but many see it as transitory during the Covid recovery before settling down. Not an economist to have the toolbox to guess on that one!

I know a lot of folks tend to get fired up about their federal politics, but this is a global energy crisis. Sounds like could be a rocky couple decades with the energy transition. Can read more at:  
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/global-energy-crisis-is-the-first-of-many-in-the-clean-power-era-1.1661753  
 
There are a lot of different opinions on how current gov has approached oil/energy and sounds like you might see it differently, but personally think they’ve walked a decent fine line in respecting how big of a part the industry is to our economy yet inspiring the kind of change that has needed to happen to take a bite out of impact on the environment. The way they’re going to bat for Enbridge in the Line 5 dispute being one example, another being taking the ball with Trans Mountain. Our companies (not just producers but pipes) are slowly making the kinds of changes that IMO are going to be necessary in a world that's putting more and more focus on cleaner energy every day. 

That makes two of us that would like to get on with EV life with just a little more movement in the numbers and better choice of vehicles (compactish SUV). Especially with our cheap hydro, we’re in such a great spot as a province to travel cheaper and cleaner if/when the grid’s able to handle the extra strain and when production cost on the cars comes down just a little more. Fellow in town with a Tesla might just chime in with better data but was pretty sure he told me they do Winnipeg round trip breakfast runs for fun on like $3-4 worth of charge.  
 
Only so much money to go around, but little disappointed how behind the times we are with EV credits provincially. A lot of provinces add a credit on top of the $5000 federal money. Quebec is $8000 for total of $13k, which takes you to the point where the math makes a lot more sense on cost of vehicle up front plus ongoing energy. I guess at least we're not Sask with their extra "road use fee" for EV owners in stead in lieu of lost revenue from gas tax!