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Victoria gas prices | Victoria utility prices


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#1261 Jason-L

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Posted 26 June 2019 - 10:29 AM

Meanwhile oil prices are rising... it's weird! 



#1262 Mike K.

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 04:59 PM

I see today’s rack price is 85.3 cents, while it’s 83.7 in Vancouver and 67.7 in Edmonton. But get this, it’s 64.4 for Newfoundland.


Rack price is 89.2 today. Pumps shot up from 1.299 to 1.459.

Hmmmmmmmmmm

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#1263 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 05:26 PM

As the fuel companies that supply B.C. submit their responses to a provincial gas price inquiry, several are refusing to share key data on their margins.

 

The B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) has been tasked with probing the factors underlying B.C.’s high gas prices and establishing a “common set of facts” about the market.

But in submissions to the BCUC, Suncor Energy, Parkland Fuel Corporation, Husky Energ

y, Shell Canada and Imperial Oil say they can’t give the regulator details about their margins for reasons of confidentiality and “competitive sensitivity.”

 

 

https://globalnews.c...as-price-probe/



#1264 RFS

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 05:33 PM

Frankly it is a little invasive. How would you like it if the government asked you about your business's profit margins

#1265 Mike K.

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 05:42 PM

That’d be a good argument if each supplier had a, you know, different pump price. But they don’t. They appear to have the same pump prices.

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#1266 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 05:48 PM

That’d be a good argument if each supplier had a, you know, different pump price. But they don’t. They appear to have the same pump prices.

 

It's a competitive businessbutthere are too few players.  prices are displayed on huge signs.  consumers have nearly no brand loyalty.  in a case like that you'd expect prices to move in nearly lockstep.  look at other prices they move similarly.  cable companies cellphone providers milk iphones.


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 July 2019 - 05:50 PM.


#1267 Mike K.

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 05:58 PM

Right. But Chevron and Co-op, theoretically, should not have the same pump price.

I’m hardly a socialist, but even I question the oddity of IDENTICAL prices between these two companies.

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#1268 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 06:12 PM

they're both smart enough to not want to race to the bottom.  like ac and westjet have learned to match one another not chase down.  and part of the reason they match is because consumers can easily compare prices (online) just like they can with gas companies as they drive around.  bulk gas is different than dinner or a vacuum cleaner.  once you have bought dinner (for the day) or a vacuum cleaner you are no longer in the market for a dinner or vacuum cleaner buy.  with gas you might be on the hunt for 2 or 3 or 5 days. and you'll strike when you see the right price.  it's pretty easy to see how three gas stations on the same corner need to exactly match prices.  and easy to know why all chevrons nearby might then have the same price.  it's too easy to just say "collusion" instead of thinking of these facts. 


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 July 2019 - 06:13 PM.


#1269 Mike K.

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 06:14 PM

Nobody is saying collusion, though.

WestJet and AC do not have identical pricing. I just checked a relatively common flight and got two very different rates.

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#1270 vortoozo

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 06:44 PM

The practice of matching prices exactly seems to be an island phenomenon.

 

Pull up Coquitlam, Kamloops, etc on Gas Buddy. There's a lot more variability.

Coquitlam for instance has prices ranging from 133.9 to 154.9 in the first 10 listings. Kamloops 131.9 to 135.9.


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#1271 sdwright.vic

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 06:53 PM

A buddy a long time a go in the states was a Manager of a convenience store/ gas station combo place. He would always keep his gas price one cent below the price of the gas stations across the street.
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#1272 Cassidy

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 06:28 AM

  • Costco - $1.27
  • Langford area stations - $1.35
  • Victoria area stations - $1.49

 

If you drive something like an F-150, or anything else that takes around 100 litres to fill up, you can save $22.00 buying at Costco, and $14.00 at most other gas stations in Langford (over filling up in the COV).

It's around 5 miles each way, so you'll spend around $3.00 - $4.00 getting there and back.

 

Worth a trip out to Langford? ... maybe if you've got the time and want to save anywhere from $12.00 to $20.00 filling up your guzzler on gas?

Three trips out there to fill up, and you've basically got your Costco card for free.

 

Downsides: 

  1. semi-brutal traffic around McKenzie construction zone
  2. will take something like an hour to an hour and a half out of your day just to get gas (depending on whether you live in Oak Bay or Marigold)
  3. brutal wait times in the Costco gas line-up (over half an hour in some cases I'm told).
  4. All of the above becomes utterly irrelevant if Costco raises their gas prices to anything close to those being charged in the COV

Edited by Cassidy, 04 July 2019 - 06:29 AM.


#1273 Mike K.

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 06:38 AM

Still $1.279 at Costco.

 

I'll try to do that today, if I can swoop in up there.


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#1274 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 06:48 AM

The practice of matching prices exactly seems to be an island phenomenon.


today’s tc headline says there is a whole range of prices locally.

#1275 sebberry

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 06:57 AM

 

  • Costco - $1.27
  • Langford area stations - $1.35
  • Victoria area stations - $1.49

 

If you drive something like an F-150, or anything else that takes around 100 litres to fill up, you can save $22.00 buying at Costco, and $14.00 at most other gas stations in Langford (over filling up in the COV).

It's around 5 miles each way, so you'll spend around $3.00 - $4.00 getting there and back.

 

 

My little family wagon gets about the same mileage as a new F150.  Maybe it's time to trade my 3,000 lb 'metal death machine*' for a '5,000 lb eco-friendly death machine'.?  

 

 

*Universal cyclist term for motorized vehicle


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#1276 Mike K.

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 08:09 AM

My F350 gets better mileage than my Explorer with a smaller motor. Figure that one out.

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#1277 jonny

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 08:11 AM

I’m hardly a socialist, but even I question the oddity of IDENTICAL prices between these two companies.

 

I have a feeling most local stations buy through the same three or four distributors. I don't know for sure, but as far as I know, all gasoline and diesel fuel on Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands comes from the Arbutus Ridge fuel depot. There used to be one at the entrance to the inner harbour years ago, but that's long gone. 

 

In Vancouver, they have the Parkland Refinery (Chevron), a Suncor terminal (Petro Canada), an Imperial Oil terminal (IOCO - ESSO/7-11) and a Shell terminal. I think that's all that's left. Costco or Co-op must be getting their fuel from one of these suppliers. 

 

Look at the fuel trucks that fill up gas station tanks. None of them say "Chevron" or "Shell" or "Petro Canada" or "Esso". It's all the same nondescript truck that drives around to each station. Who knows if you're actually getting Suncor fuel when you fill up at Petro Canada? No clue. With the restrictions we have on pipeline and rail capacity, I'd bet they all take what they can get.  

 

I've heard that Vancouver Island only has three days worth of fuel at any given time. 


Edited by jonny, 04 July 2019 - 08:11 AM.

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#1278 DustMagnet

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 08:12 AM

 

Worth a trip out to Langford? ... maybe if you've got the time and want to save anywhere from $12.00 to $20.00 filling up your guzzler on gas?

Three trips out there to fill up, and you've basically got your Costco card for free.

 

 

If You Lived In Langford You'd Be At Costco By Now


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#1279 Cassidy

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 08:38 AM

I have a feeling most local stations buy through the same three or four distributors. .....

 

I think you'll find that they actually buy from each other at the wholesale level.

Chevron operates the tank farm in Cobble Hill (Arbutus Ridge), and Shell operates the one up in Chemanius.

 

An interesting aside is that we not only have just three days worth of fuel, but we also have only three days worth of food on the entire Island at any given point in time.

Big time natural disaster and those three days worth of food and fuel would be gone in less than two hours.

One can see the need to keep emergency supplies in the home, certainly a couple of weeks worth of food and water, and definitely not letting your gas tank run all the way down to empty all the time before filling it back up.


Edited by Cassidy, 04 July 2019 - 08:38 AM.


#1280 Wayne

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 09:32 AM

DustMagnet, on 04 Jul 2019 - 09:12 AM, said:

If You Lived In Langford You'd Be At Costco By Now

That is their lunch spot.



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