Oil prices inflating shipping costs, says Hunter

Posted on August 27, 2026 by admin

By Trevor Busch
Westwind Weekly News
editor@tabertimes.com

Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter says it’s too early to tell what the final numbers might be in terms of a boost to provincial oil and gas revenue as a windfall from the recent war with Iran, but high prices at the pump are still hitting people in the pocketbook.

“I don’t have any notes on that data (but) anecdotally, I can tell you it’s affecting people,” said Hunter. 

The trickle-down affect of shipping goods closely linked to the price of diesel fuel is making its impact felt. 

“We ship a lot of stuff, so when the price of oil goes up, the price of gas goes up, the price of diesel goes up, then you know it’s going to affect the price of everything that we buy here,” said Hunter, who also serves as Minister of Environment and Protected Areas. 

On the pipeline front, Hunter says his ministry is working through the requirements obligated through the recent agreement with the federal government. 

“I’m going to be looking a bit more at – obviously, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done on the MOU, and my ministry is very much involved in the MOU for the energy pipeline project that we have going to the West Coast, so we’re working on that as well.”