Looming war brings pump pains

Saturday, February 8, 2003 www.canoe.ca By CP

Gas guzzlers alert: a war in Iraq will cause a lot more pain at the pump. Canadian drivers and businesses that guzzle lots of fuel are pumped with anger over gasoline prices that are spiking because of war fears and concerns about world oil supply. And experts warn, if war erupts in the Mideast, pump prices here will likely leap even further. "An attack on Iraq will temporary further cause a price shock because everyone will be afraid of what the longer term implication is," said Wilf Gobert, an analyst with Peters & Co. in Calgary. Energy experts are blaming geopolitical events: a looming war in Iraq, a national strike in Venezuela that has affected oil production and a 26-year low in U.S. oil inventories.