Winnipeg drivers feeling financial impact of Mideast war

Winnipeggers are starting to feel the financial burden of soaring gas prices linked to the recent U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran that have disrupted supply chains around the world.

Since the fighting began Feb. 28, the average price of gas in Canada has increased to 155.9 cents per litre, from 133.6/L, with the average in Winnipeg sitting at 143.9/L, according to sector observer website Gasbuddy.com.

“It’s outrageous,” Rennee Batson, 53, said while filling her tank at 204 Fuels on Salter Street on Monday. “With the cost of everything else, it just makes it more unbearable.”

Batson said she uses her car frequently for work, but pays for gas out of her own pocket. Amid ongoing North American affordability issues, she has had to change her phone plan and cut back on TV and internet services.

With what seems like everything getting more expensive, the federal government needs to step in to relieve the burden on Canadians, she said. “Either you increase wages or you decrease something.”

Meanwhile, Braiden Haug, 32, has been hauling vehicles up North for 15 years. He said he normally spends $1,000 a week on fuel, but with the current prices, he’s now spending $1,500.

He’s expecting prices to increase up to $2/L, but is still hoping for the best, Haug said, filling up outside Canco Gas on Isabel Street.

That hope may not be unfounded, at least in the short term. Gas prices could remain stable after G7 countries said Monday they were discussing the potential of releasing oil from their individual strategic reserves, said Dan McTeague, executive director of fossil fuel advocacy group Canadians for Affordable Energy.

“What would have been an (US)$18 increase in the barrel of oil (prices) turned out to really be a ‘nothing burger’ today,” the former New Brunswick MP said.

However, McTeague said the United States currently has 400 million barrels of oil reserves and could only afford to put it into the market for about two weeks. “Markets are soothed … but we’re not out of the woods yet,” he said.

And, no matter the speed of the resolution of the Iran conflict, it will be a while before Manitobans see gas prices slide back to recent norms, McTeague said.

High prices would still linger because, among other issues, Mideast countries like Saudi Arabia, the second largest oil producer in the world, will need to repair infrastructure damaged in the fighting to get back on track.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca