Canada: Heating oil price set to drop, industry predicts

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Radio-Canada

Copyright ) 2000 CBC All Rights Reserved Heating oil price set to drop, industry group predicts WebPosted Fri Jul 7 10:32:57 2000 ET

TORONTO - Canadians looking ahead to a winter of high crude-oil costs need not worry, according to the Canadian Oil Heat Association. These suppliers of heating oil are predicting the cost of oil will likely stabilize.

John Butt, president of the organization says the recent rise in costs are a matter of circumstance, and not a reflection of long-term trends. He says the increases are a result of last year's reduction in crude oil output by OPEC, combined with an increase in demand because of colder-than-expected weather and an increase in users of oil as an alternative fuel.

Butt added that oil prices have been relatively stable for more than 15 years.

Michael Ervin of M. J. Ervin and Associates energy analysts in Calgary, agreed that crude oil will likely stabilize because -- unlike natural gas -- its price is regulated by OPEC.

Natural gas spot prices have almost doubled in a year. Heavy American demand and a depletion of reserves helped to cause the hike.

http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/NWview.cgi?/news/2000/07/07/heatoil000707

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 07, 2000

Answers

These stories continue to amaze me. Is this just PR flak from the oil industry or what? Know wonder the public doesn't have a clue. I see many articles about oil, but I do not see the underlying problems change.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 07, 2000.

If you believe all the PR flaks tell you, you'd have to believe that you're livng on another planet, rather than the planet, Earth.

The point about heating oil that seems to be lost, or has not occurred to anyone, is all the INTERRUPTIBLE contracts out there--contracts saying that IF natural gas cannot be delivered, OIL will have to be SUBSTITUTED as a heating source. AND, THERE IS A TREMENDOUS NATURAL GAS SHORTAGE. Hence, you do not have to be some kind of genius to figure that this shortage will jump the demand for heating oil considerably.

So, all together now, PR flaks: 2 plus 2 equals 4, not the 8, 16 or 19 you keep telling us it does.

-- JackW (jpayne@webtv.net), July 07, 2000.


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