OTTAWA - As pump prices continue their seemingly inexorable climb, more than half of Canadians are either changing their driving habits or thinking about it, a new poll suggests.
About a quarter of respondents to The Canadian Press-Harris-Decima survey said the soaring price of gasoline has led them to cut down on gasoline consumption and another 28 per cent said they're starting to look for ways to do so.
About 15 per cent said they'll start to change if pump prices push higher, while a quarter of respondents said they were unlikely to change the amount of gas they use no matter what the price.
"The recent run-up in price has motivated one in four people to change their behaviour, but as people think more pain is yet to come, more behaviour will likely change, too,'' said Bruce Anderson, Harris-Decima president.
The poll also suggested that Canadians fear oil prices will soar ever higher in the next five years and most of them blame gouging by oil companies.
The average price prediction by respondents was $203 a barrel in five years.
Only 11 per cent of survey respondents said they thought the price of oil will be lower in five years.
Oil prices fluctuated around US$132 a barrel Thursday after setting a new record of US$135.09 in overnight trading. Oil industry analysts are hedging their bets, but Goldman Sachs is predicting an average price of $148 a barrel next year and Boone Picken, the oil and corporate takeover tycoon has forecast $150 a barrel.
The poll suggested that 57 per cent of Canadians blame gouging by oil companies for the recent steep price jump.
But a third of respondents -- described as a "remarkably large minority'' -- said it's due to increasing world consumption and dwindling supplies.
Anderson said people seem reconciled to higher prices.
"Ten years ago, current prices for gasoline would have prompted virtually unanimous outrage, coupled with a belief that the price would eventually come `down to earth,''' he said.
"What is remarkable today is that most see no end in sight and while most are frustrated and suspicious, a pretty sizable minority of people say the situation reflects world demand and supply.''
Anderson noted that some people think there's "a silver lining'' in the high cost of oil.
While 61 per cent of respondents said it would be good if prices went down, just over 30 per cent said high prices are actually better because they force people to reduce consumption.
The omnibus telephone survey of just over 1,000 people was conducted May 15-18 and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
