What's up with gas prices?

Kelowna gas $1.25 a litre ... Ontario gas 90 cents a litre.

Here we are in the Okanagan being assaulted further by the oil companies and the gas distributor in Kamloops, who delivers the same gasoline to all the different gas stations throughout the Southern Interior.

Imm sure you have noticed by now a barrel of oil is down to $50, and yet our gas price still remains high. 

The average price of a US gallon right now is $2.81, and for those of you who may still have a little problem with conversion, let me help you. It takes 3.8 litres to make one US gallon. Therefore, if you multiply what we pay per litre, you arrive at $4.86 a gallon. 

When you look at other cities outside the "screw zone" we live in, you find prices that are $0.96 to $1.04 per litre in Calgary. Winnipeg is selling gas at $0.92 per litre. London is $0.89 and Ottawa is $0.96 a litre.

Why are we in this valley being bent over?

Only a few years ago, when oil was around $39 a barrel, gas was around 85 to 90 cents per litre. 

I find it most strange that we in the Okanagan sit and watch as price fixing is allowed to go on right beneath our noses, without the government doing anything about it. 

I believe we should be building refineries to refine Canada’s crude oil and create thousands of jobs across this country to allow us to sell our refined products to world markets. Instead, we are giving our resources away and then buying them back at triple the cost.

Unfortunately, we have all levels of government and all their little minions turning a blind eye and leaving us to carry the costs.

Ian MacLean, Kelowna