With the Strait of Hormuz closed due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, and no sense of when it might reopen to 20 per cent of the world's oil production, Hatters and all Canadians can expect to pay for dearly it at the pumps.--CP FILE PHOTO
With gas prices already sitting at 161.9 cents per litre and climbing, experts suggest they aren’t likely to come back down any time soon.
“Medicine Hat is up 12 cents from last week, up 41 cents from a month ago,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “It’s 10 cents lower than the national average, which is 171.5 today, and it’s not looking like we’re going to see a much better price.”
With the price at nearly $100 for WTi crude oil as of the time of writing, De Haan says prices are likely to continue to climb as long as travel through the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted due to the U.S.-Israeli-started war with Iran. The strait is one of the most vital waterways in the world in regards to transport of oil to the global market, transporting roughly 20 per cent of the world’s oil on a daily basis.
Due to ongoing tensions however, nobody wants to travel through the strait, which is leading to “pretty major impacts” on oil prices, says De Haan. It is hard to predict when this may begin moving in the other direction.
“It’ll keep going up as long as the strait remains essentially closed,” said De Haan. “There’s really no telling on how long it’ll go. I wish I had the crystal ball, but I most definitely don’t.”
In the face of price uncertainty, motorists are suggested to use price comparison sites or apps to try to get the most competitive pricing, perhaps even multiple times a day, as some stations may temporarily lower prices in off hours. Other than that, attempting to drive less or in a more fuel efficient manner is all consumers can do to stretch their gas budget.
“There’s a lot of different things that consumers can do, but overall, consumers are going to have to dig a little deeper here the next couple of weeks and potentially next couple months, if there’s not a drastic improvement,” said De Haan.
