High crude oil prices bite into refiners’ profit margins

Many drivers are frustrated about how much the cost of gasoline has gone up, but experts say the price that refiners pay for crude oil – now trading around a record US$115 a barrel – has risen even faster.

While Canadians were on average paying $1.21 per litre on Thursday, compared to about $1.08 at this time last year, Edward Jones analyst Lanny Pendill said pump prices have not even come close to catching up with refiners’ soaring costs.
“So the net impact has been the profitability at the refineries has declined significantly from last year’s levels,” he said.

“The refiner, in essence, is absorbing some of that cost increase of oil.

CBC