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The Middle East oil shock

Oil is sold on a world market, so Canadian refiners pay the world price. No official negotiations to end the war are under way.

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Canadian drivers pay more, and oil-producing governments collect more

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WHAT HAPPENED

Natural Resources Canada's average for regular gasoline stood at C$1.87 a litre for the week ending September 15. That was 47 cents above the last full week before the war. A day earlier Statistics Canada had put gasoline 22.8 per cent above its level of August 2025. Governments that collect oil revenue were on the other side of that price. Alberta's government had said on August 27 that higher oil prices turned its projected deficit into a forecast surplus. Economist Jim Stanford of the Centre for Future Work estimated the oil industry's second-quarter profits after tax at about C$23 billion. That was double the first quarter of 2026, in Radio-Canada's account.

Why this matters

The same price rise costs households and pays producers and governments. The gains are forecasts and estimates, and they hold only while prices stay high.

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Regular gasoline averaged C$1.87 a litre in Canadian cities in the week ending September 15, 2026, by Natural Resources Canada's weekly average, taxes included. The same average was C$1.40 in the week ending February 24, 2026, the last full week before the war began. It had touched C$1.87 in the week ending July 28 and was C$1.71 in the week ending August 11.

Canada exports oil. How much more does a litre of gasoline cost its drivers than before the war? →
Factual assertion Supported by evidence. Read this claim alongside its limits on products, dates or people covered. A source announcing a plan does not show that it happened.

Gasoline cost 22.8 per cent more in August 2026 than a year earlier, by Statistics Canada's release of September 14. That was down from 25.7 per cent in July, and overall inflation was 3.0 per cent in both months. Excluding gasoline, prices rose 2.4 per cent in August, up from 2.2 per cent in July.

Statistics Canada named the conflict in the Middle East in two inflation reports in a row. What changed between them? →
Forecast Not yet confirmed. The available sources do not yet confirm whether this happened.

Radio-Canada reported on September 15, 2026 that higher oil revenue could offset Canada's losses from US tariffs. On August 27 Alberta's government forecast a C$2 billion surplus for 2026-27, where its budget had a C$9.4 billion deficit. Former federal economic adviser Tyler Meredith estimated that each 10-dollar rise in a barrel of oil adds about C$2 billion to federal revenue.

Who in Canada takes in more when oil costs more? →
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