Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to explain why the price of gasoline is at this level today in Canada. Quite simply, it is because of the famous law of supply and demand.
Currently, United States gasoline inventories, that is supply, are at their lowest level in 10 years. In May 2007, they were at around 190 million barrels, while in May 2006, they were at 210 million barrels. Thus, we see that inventories are extremely low, something we have not seen in 10 years. Consequently, Americans and Canadians have to rebuild their inventories.
Demand is also very high, and we will see this in the coming months. Why is the inventory so low? Because it is being depleted, since there have been some fires in refineries. Moreover, very old refineries in the United States require regular maintenance, which forces production shutdowns. The inventory that is being sold is the inventory the Americans have. It is being depleted and we see that it is at its lowest level.
Inventories are currently being rebuilt. Since the capitalist system has always worked well, to ensure that supply and demand are balanced, when there is a shortage, prices increase, and when supply is very high, prices decrease.
I can assure members that in the next few weeks, oil prices will go down again, as we have seen in the past. This situation is only temporary, since there is global competition for oil.