Industry committee  I don't think so.

Industry committee  It's on the world stage. At the end of the day, it's supply and demand in terms of the total supply of oil and how much you can get for a barrel of oil. Comparable crude slate will get the same price around the world. Whether it's produced in Saudi Arabia or Canada, it will be the same amount.

Industry committee  Essentially, the reason we collect the information is really to provide a snapshot to Canadians in terms of the trends. And we made a decision in terms of the Fuel Focus that once every two weeks was what we were aiming for in terms of that information. We do collect the rack prices on a weekly basis, so we are able to provide that information to Canadians.

Industry committee  We have done it by region. I actually don't think we do have it city by city, but we do have it by region.

Industry committee  The simple answer is that the decision we've made about the Fuel Focus report is that we collect information once a week, and that's the information that we collect as well from the retailers regarding what they sell in 60 centres across Canada. We felt that was sort of an efficient way to provide the information Canadians need to make their decisions.

Industry committee  I think the better graph to help explain this is on slide 9. It essentially tracks the major events that have occurred. What we're seeing here in terms of refinery margins is the difference between the price of crude oil and how much a refiner can get to sell it to a retailer. What we're noticing now in terms of the recent hike is really a question of the supply crunch, or how much capacity is in the system to balance supply and demand.

Industry committee  The margins are the margins. Refiners have a market, and try to sell their product at the highest possible prices. When products are rare, companies can obviously sell at higher prices.

Industry committee  I am saying that this not something we do.

Industry committee  I actually don't have that number with me.

Industry committee  Let me just find those numbers for you. I have them.

Industry committee  In terms of gasoline, the production in Canada in 2006 was about 725,000 barrels a day. In terms of domestic sales, it is almost comparable: 705,000 barrels a day. Imports of gasoline products were 108,000 barrels a day, and exports were 136,000 barrels a day. That would mean that the net exports in terms of gasoline were 30,000 barrels a day.

Industry committee  For gasoline prices, we do, and the Fuel Focus report comes out every two weeks. But we also have an annual report that came out in 2006, and we do comparisons over time. And we also, as I say, have rolling averages in terms of where those prices have been.

Industry committee  Great. I've sent out a presentation deck. Hopefully everyone has a copy of it. Good afternoon, and thank you for inviting us here today to discuss gasoline prices and the factors that influence them. First, I'd like to talk briefly about the policy context within which gasoline markets function in Canada.