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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: I_C_Deadpeople who wrote (63202)	6/9/2006 9:09:53 AM
From: CommanderCricket	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

A neighbor down the street was rear ended in his Toyota Matrix and the car was totaled. Asked him what he was buying to replace it? Ford F150 Pickup - cares more about safety than a few dollars more for gas. All these comments about downsizing to fuel efficient vehicles won't happen until fuel prices go up significantly. $3 isn't enough for most people. This article is from Canada where they pay 25% more then we do. Soaring gas prices leave drivers undeterred Globe and Mail Update Canadians may be complaining about record-high prices at the pump, but that isn't stopping them from filling up. A Ipsos Reid survey done on behalf of The Canadian Centre for Energy Information shows that a vast majority of Canadians – 79 per cent – expect gasoline prices will rise by 10 to 20 cents a litre, or more, this summer. With the average national weekly price hitting $1.08 a litre, that would sent prices as high as $1.28. Despite a price surge of more than 40 per cent over the past three years, most Canadians say they have not trimmed their consumption, the survey shows. Just one-fifth of households, 21 per cent, say they have cut down on the amount of gas they use while 43 per cent say that have increased their gas intake since 2004. "It raises the question of whether people are actually being financially affected," Tim Moro, a senior vice-president at Ipsos Reid, said in an interview. "And also to what extent we have organized ourselves so that we really are car-dependent. People do not feel - or maybe they don't - have any other alternative." Among those polled, 56 per cent said they drive to work or school, compared with 11 per cent who take public transit, 8 per cent who walk or jog, 4 per cent who carpool, and 2 per cent who ride their bikes. Although few Canadians are actually cutting back on their driving, high gas prices have most people at least thinking about changing their habits, the Ipsos Reid survey said. Among the findings: - 57 per cent say they have “reduced the amount of driving they do” - 55 per cent have “considered purchasing a more fuel-efficient vehicle” - 52 per cent have “shopped aggressively for the best price on gasoline” - 35 per cent say they have “changed their vacation plans to stay closer to home” - 23 per cent say they have “delayed a major household purchase such as a television or appliance” The disconnect between people's intentions and their actual behaviour is an indication "of the economic vibrancy across our country," Mr. Moro said. "Still, our research suggests there is no large-scale movement to curtail the use of gasoline at this time." In addition to looking at consumption habits, the Ipsos Reid survey looked at public knowledge about Canada's position as a global oil and gas producer. Among other things, it found that Canadians are misinformed about the amount they pay for gas compared with how much residents of other industrial nations pay, as well as the level of tax imbedded in gas prices. Canada supplies all of the gasoline it uses domestically, the Ipsos Reid survey said. While gasoline is at times imported because of maintenance to refineries, this is more than offset by exports to the United States. However, on average, Canadians respondents believe only 39 per cent of our gasoline is domestically sourced, with only 15 per cent of the population saying that 70 per cent or more of gasoline is supplied domestically. "We are self-sufficient in this country in terms of gasoline and have been for many years," Mr. Moro said. "How effective of a public dialogue can we have no this subject if so many people are uninformed?" Those surveyed by Ipsos Reid said also said they believe taxes make up 44 per cent of the total retail price of gasoline, above the actual figure of 35 per cent. Crude prices account for 48 per cent, refiner operating margins for 12 per cent, and marketing operating margins for 5 per cent. More than one-third of those polled said they believe Canadians face higher gas prices than in Europe and Japan. In fact, prices in those areas are almost double those in Canada, the survey found. Between January and April of this year, Canadians paid an average 95.7 cents a litre for premium unleaded gas, compared with $1.83 in Britain, and between $1.71 and $1.77 in France, Germany and Spain. In Japan, drivers paid $1.33 to fill up. All of the prices include taxes and were calculated by Ipsos Reid in Canadian dollars. Mr. Moro said he was most surprised that 33 per cent of Canadians believe gas prices are higher in the United States, despite the fact that many Canadians regularly travel across the border. In fact, gas in the U.S. averaged 74 cents a litre from January till April 2006, well below the Canadian average of 95.7 cents. "Americans have almost always had the cheapest gas," Mr. Moro said. "The cross-border trip to buy a cheap tank of gas was almost a tradition among Canadians living in border towns. And I understand, people still do this." Canadian drivers consumed around 39.8 billion litres of gas in 2005, according to the most recent data from Statistics Canada. The Ipsos Reid telephone survey was conducted between May 23 and May 25. Just over 1,000 people were randomly selected, and results are considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. CC