Pain at the pump as gas prices hit a new all-time high in Metro Vancouver
Posted April 28, 2018 7:37 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Things certainly escalated overnight for drivers around the Metro Vancouver as gas prices went up. Again.
We’ve hit a new all-time high as the pain at the pump hit $1.599/L for regular and the summer driving season has yet to officially begin.
If you’re bracing for even higher gas prices this summer, which is a real possibility, one analyst is offering a bit of good news as there are some predictions what you pay at the pump may actually drop a little in the coming months.
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We’ve heard forecasts for prices potentially going well above the $1.60/L mark or even higher during the summer driving season with conventional wisdom pointing to increased demand.
However, Chief Petroleum Analyst Roger McKnight at En-Pro International has a different take on where a litre of regular will top out.
“Maybe $1.62/L or $1.63/L but I think it’s going to start coming down after that because when we get into the driving season, which is the end of May, prices tend to fall off because the refineries are going full tilt to maintain supply to the consumer.”
That’s versus the tightened supply seen recently with pipeline and refinery outages.
He adds crude oil prices this summer and the level of the loonie against the US dollar — which is what oil is bought and sold in — are also big factors.
Dan McTeague with GasBuddy.com has forecast prices will continue to push to even higher records in Metro Vancouver, especially once the weather really warms up.
“They’re likely to remain in the vicinity of between $1.52/L at the low end to $1.62/L maybe even a $1.63/L at the high end and we haven’t really entered the summer months.”
He adds if the Canadian dollar and US greenback were roughly on par, you could be saving as much as 15 cents a litre.
Just to add some salt to the gaping wound that is your wallet, remember drivers in BC pay the highest gas taxes nation-wide and GasBuddy.com shows prices in BC are more 25 cents higher than some other parts of the country.
