A surge in gas prices in the Lower Mainland

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LOWER MAINLAND (NEWS1130) – It’s not something you want to hear as we head into the weekend. Rising gas prices are once again hitting the Lower Mainland.

At a gas station in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant area, the price was spotted at $1.50 per litre Friday morning. But in Richmond, some stations peaked at $1.55 overnight.

We caught up with one woman who picked a bad day to head out of town. “It’s insane. I’m actually going back to Edmonton. Prices are way less there. It’s like $1.07 at the moment. It just doesn’t make sense.”

We spoke with another driver who’s shaking his head over the price at the pump. “When oil prices go up, gas prices go up. When oil prices go down, gas prices go up.”

“Go south of the border, and they don’t pay what we pay,” he points out.

What’s causing these record-high prices?

“One of these things is called unforeseen circumstances,” claims gas analyst Michael Ervin with MJ Ervin and Associates. He points out this isn’t happening in the rest of Canada. Some places in Toronto are enjoying $1.23 per litre.

“California is experiencing a number of refinery issues. That, in addition to a major refinery outage in Washington State, has left the West Coast region very tight in supply. As a result of that, we have seen wholesale gasoline prices rise,” he explains.

With BP’s Cherry Point refinery about to be back up and running, that could mean a bit of a drop. But Ervin says that would only bring us back to where we were a few days ago.

The record price was in July 2008 when we reached a $1.52. Earlier this month, Ervin suggested a $1.48 was the peak.

Remember to mark July 1, 2012 on your calendar. That’s when the carbon tax adds about two cents a litre more to the price at the pumps.

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