Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
Drivers across Saskatchewan woke up to another hit at the pump after gas prices jumped by about 10 cents overnight on Saturday, pushing some stations past $1.70 a litre and leaving many to wonder how much more of an increase they could absorb.
“It’s starting to get unreal again, it’s hitting the pocket pretty good,” said one driver, Dustin, who added the increase was becoming harder to ignore.
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- Global fuel prices soar as Iran hits back at multiple Gulf refineries
- Both sides in Iran war ratchet up attacks on energy facilities, as oil prices surge
- Canadian ships stuck in Persian Gulf as blockade of Strait of Hormuz continues
Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked to as high as $118 a barrel, up more than 60 per cent since Israel and the United States started the war Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran. The Government of Canada says that rising crude oil prices are the single most important factor behind increases in petroleum product prices.
According to GasBuddy.com, the cheapest gas in Saskatchewan on Sunday was around $1.31 a litre in the village of Kisbey between Stoughton and Carlyle in southeast Saskatchewan between Stoughton and Carlyle.
Another driver, Tara Karelchuk, summed up the feeling more bluntly: “You gotta pay what you gotta pay, everything’s expensive.”
For Gene Ripplinger, the pain was real, but familiar. “Gas is a commodity, so I guess you just have to live with it,” he said.
The price spike adds to the pressure that many people in Saskatchewan are already facing from high food costs and other day-to-day expenses.
While drivers CJME New spoke to did not all react the same way, the common thread was clear: higher gas prices were one more bill people had little choice but to pay.
Dustin said the jump felt especially frustrating because it could happen so quickly.
“When you wait a day, and the price jumps overnight, you’re like, wow,” he said, suggesting there was little regular people could do except “absorb the hits.”
That same sense of resignation came through in Karelchuk’s reaction. She said she did not spend much time getting angry about the increase because there was no real way around it but acknowledged the broader toll of rising prices.
“Food, gas, it’s everything.”
Ripplinger took a different view, saying price spikes tied to turmoil overseas and shifting markets were nothing new, even if they were still painful.
“We know what’s going on in the Middle East, and I’m not sure why it affects us here, but it’s a market price. It’s a commodity,” he said.
Ripplinger said people had seen fuel costs surge before, including after COVID-19 and during previous conflicts in the Middle East. He said that history made this latest increase easier to put in perspective, even if it did not make filling up any easier.
“We’re always gonna get through it,” he said. “Everybody’s worked hard all their life, and prices go up and down.”
The three drivers painted a picture many Saskatchewan motorists would recognize: frustration from watching the numbers rise, fatigue from constantly paying more, and resignation from knowing there was little choice but to keep driving.
The Liberia-flagged tanker Shenlong Suezmax, carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia, arrived in Mumbai, India, after clearing the Strait of Hormuz on March 12, 2026. Iran insists “safe passage” in the strait is possible for non-enemies. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Trump makes threat over Strait of Hormuz
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump was cycling through an increasingly desperate list of options as he searched for a solution to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway for global oil and gas transport that has been blockaded by Iran.
Iran blames the U.S. for closure of the strait of Hormuz and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that maritime traffic isn’t passing through because insurance companies are concerned about the U.S.-initiated war, not because of Iran’s actions.
“Freedom of Navigation cannot exist without Freedom of Trade. Respect both — or expect neither,” Araghchi wrote on X. He added that further threats will not sway Iranians nor insurers.
Iran insists “safe passage” in Strait of Hormuz is possible for non-enemies.
Trump has jumped from calls to secure Strait of Hormuz through diplomatic means to lifting sanctions and now escalating to a direct threat against civilian infrastructure in the Islamic Republic.
Trump and his allies insist they were always prepared for Iran to block the strait, yet his erratic strategy has fuelled criticism that he is grasping for answers after going to war without a clear exit plan.
On Saturday came his latest attempt, via an ultimatum to Iran on social media: Open the strait within 48 hours or the United States will “obliterate” the country’s power plants.
Trump tried his hand at a diplomatic solution last weekend when he called for a new international coalition to send warships to the strait.
Allies turned him down. Trump then said the U.S. could manage on its own. On Friday he suggested other countries would have to take over as the U.S. eyes an exit. Hours later he indicated the waterway would somehow “open itself.”
Also on Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department made an attempt to get a handle on the soaring gas prices by lifting sanctions on some Iranian oil for the first time in decades, with a goal of sending millions more barrels of oil into the global market.
It is not clear, however, how much of a dent that would make in lowering pump prices or how the administration could prevent Iran from cashing in on the renewed sales.
The administration had earlier temporarily lifted sanctions on some Russian oil.
— with files from CJME’s Lisa Schick, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
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