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Gas price gap

Harding’s sources make the reasonable statement that localized gas prices will be affected by the size of the local market

Re: Editor John Harding’s editorial ‘Gas Price Turmoil’ (The NEWS, Jan. 14) in which he provides data and some research which indicates that gas prices in the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) are the highest in the country, “including the Northwest Territories.”

Harding’s sources make the reasonable statement that localized gas prices will be affected by the size of the local market — the more gas pumped, the lower the price. This would support the fact that gas should be cheaper in Victoria, for example, but it does not provide any rationale for gas being cheaper in communities smaller than those in the RDN.

Of course, there are other factors to consider such as the cost of distribution, but can we say that it costs less to deliver gas to the North Island or any other area of Canada than to the RDN?

I suggest The NEWS invites representatives of the local gas retail industry to provide, for publication, a logical explanation for the disparity.

Steve Price-FrancisQualicum Beach