CALGARY - The price of crude oil fell sharply after the U.S., Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, but the drop is not being reflected at gas station pumps — yet. West Texas Intermediate crude is trading nearly 18 per cent lower than it was a day earlier at about US$95 per barrel. Price tracking website Gasbuddy.com says the average Canadian price for a litre of regular unleaded gas was actually almost two cents higher than it was a day earlier at about $1.85 per litre. Gasbuddy.com [Read more]

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal government is looking at how to support Canadians as oil prices rise amid the ongoing war in the Middle East. Oil prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, averaging more than $1.80 per litre across Canada today, compared with about $1.32 a year ago. Carney says his government wants to help "cushion the blow" for Canadians. The conflict has cut off flows of crude through the critical Strait of Hormuz and [Read more]

OTTAWA - The Conservative Party of Canada is calling on Ottawa to drop the federal tax on gas and diesel fuel for the rest of the year. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday that lifting the Fuel Excise Tax, Clean Fuel Standard and GST surcharges from gas and diesel would save about 25 cents a litre. Poilievre estimated the resulting reduction in tax revenue at $5.25 billion. The party said it would permanently eliminate the Clean Fuel Standard after 2026. Poilievre said [Read more]

TORONTO - Experts at BMO say that as dramatic as the swing in energy prices has been, the global economy should be able to manage through current levels. Chief economist Doug Porter says Canada has just seen the largest monthly gasoline price hike on record but that oil prices, when adjusted for inflation, are around where they largely hovered between 2005 and 2015. Speaking at an online seminar put on by the bank, he said the speed of change is certainly a shock to the system, but that [Read more]

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will join multi-nation talks hosted by the U.K. on Thursday on finding diplomatic options to reopen the Strait of Hormuz trade corridor. Anand says all countries involved should know Canada will not hesitate to help secure the strait once there is a ceasefire, but the Liberal government has not decided yet on specific measures. The Iran war has disrupted shipments of energy commodities through the strait, causing global oil prices to surge over [Read more]

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says a deadline for reaching two agreements connected to her landmark energy deal with Ottawa will be missed. The November memorandum of understanding outlined a number of commitments and steps both levels of government would take to eventually see a new bitumen pipeline built connecting Alberta to B.C. tidewater. It set an April 1 deadline for four key arrangements that would be needed before a pipeline gets the greenlight, and Smith and Prime [Read more]

BURNABY - The BC General Employees' Union is asking for provincially regulated employees to be allowed to work from home full-time due to high fuel prices. The union that represents 35,000 public service workers among more than 95,000 members says in a statement that the temporary allowance would "help alleviate" the burden facing members due to gas prices that have surged amid the Iran war. The union also says the province should look at ways to "provide temporary relief" for workers who must [Read more]