Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, let me begin by introducing the people who are with me today. Mr. Pierre Crevier is the Chairman of the Board of AQUIP and President of Pétroles Crevier. Mr. René Blouin is AQUIP's Senior Consultant. My name is Sonia Marcotte, and I am Chief Executive Officer of the Association québécoise des indépendants du pétrole.
We want to thank the members of this Committee for inviting us to present our position on these important issues. We do so on behalf of the members of AQUIP, which represents oil companies in Quebec.
They operate in the field of importing, distribution and retail sales of fuel, fuel oil and lubricants. Retail sales of Quebec oil companies total over $1 billion annually.
We do not intend to spend much time today talking about the strategic importance of independent oil companies, since it has been shown that their presence and the competition they introduce into the petroleum industry in Quebec, notably through the importation on cargo ships of finished products, provides Quebec consumers with a price advantage estimated at $361 million a year.
Today, we would like to talk primarily about increases in fuel prices that are raising such a hue and cry among consumers. In January of 1999, Montreal consumers were paying around 50¢ for a litre of gas. At that time, Montreal refineries were paying 11.1¢ for a litre of crude oil. They were demanding a refining margin of 4.4¢ before offering their gas for sale at the loading rack. Again, in January of 1999, the retailer's margin in Montreal was 3.6¢ a litre. That margin was not even sufficient to cover all the operating costs of an efficient serve station.
Now, let us look at how this situation has changed. The most recent data available show that, last May, Montreal refineries were paying 44.8¢ for a litre of crude oil. They were demanding a refining margin of 25.7¢ a litre, an increase of 484 p. 100 over January 1999.