Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Analyst Warns British Columbia Gas Prices Could Soon Hit A Record High

The Canadian Press, 19 Mar, 2018 12:51 PM
  • Analyst Warns British Columbia Gas Prices Could Soon Hit A Record High
VANCOUVER — Drivers in British Columbia should brace for record high gasoline prices this summer and the financial pain has the potential to spread across the country, says a petroleum industry analyst.
 
 
Dan McTeague of the online tech company GasBuddy predicts that beginning in April and continuing to September, gasoline prices across much of B.C.'s south coast will hover around $1.60 a litre.
 
 
He blames the hike on high demand and chronically short supply, made even worse by Friday's announcement that the Olympic pipeline that distributes gasoline throughout Washington and Oregon will be taken off-line for four or five days of maintenance.
 
 
Prices across Vancouver hit about $1.55 over the weekend, while Victoria remained around $1.40, but McTeague warns southern Vancouver Island could see an eight-cent-a-litre leap as the ripple from short supplies and climbing local taxes spreads.
 
 
The high for a litre of gasoline in Metro Vancouver was set on June 22, 2014, when the price was just under $1.56.
 
 
McTeague said some analysts fear higher prices will spread east.
 
 
"People are shaking their heads," he said. "It's become quite the story, with some national overtones."
 
 
McTeague said other parts of the country are not looking at the same prices for gas, particularly because of B.C.'s taxes on gas.
 
 
"It's not quite the same thing, you are not dealing with 50-cent-a-litre taxes and you are not dealing with a shortage in the same way Vancouver is experiencing," he said. "But it does suggest, I think, the likelihood of breaking the all-time record in Vancouver will likely happen this week." 
 
 
In other parts of the country on Monday, the average price for gas was just under $1.14 a litre in Edmonton, about $1.25 in Toronto and around $1.12 in Halifax. 
 
 
Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline supplies about 50 per cent of the gasoline for B.C.'s south coast, but McTeague says it is already congested and can't meet the region's demand.
 
 
The expected lengthy maintenance shutdown of the Parkland refinery, which McTeague said carries 25 per cent of the Vancouver-area's gasoline, has further crimped supply, while the low dollar adds to the expense of topping up from Washington state refineries.
 
 
"By any stretch or by any measure, the price you are paying in Vancouver is, for most people, prohibitive," said McTeague.
 
 
Los Angeles is the other city in North America where gas prices are unusually high, selling at $3.50 a gallon. But McTeague said even when the exchange rate and other factors are calculated, B.C. drivers would pay about $5.00 for a gallon.

MORE National ARTICLES

Man Charged With Killing Romantic Partner And Her Two Teens In Ajax, Ont.

Man Charged With Killing Romantic Partner And Her Two Teens In Ajax, Ont.
AJAX, Ont. — A burly man, his face bruised and bloodied, appeared in an Ontario court on Thursday accused of killing a woman he was in a relationship with and two of her teenaged children.

Man Charged With Killing Romantic Partner And Her Two Teens In Ajax, Ont.

B.C. Animal Testing Lab Operates Without Conflicts, Review Concludes

B.C. Animal Testing Lab Operates Without Conflicts, Review Concludes
VICTORIA — A review says scientists and government bureaucrats at British Columbia's animal testing laboratory are not in any conflicts of interest.

B.C. Animal Testing Lab Operates Without Conflicts, Review Concludes

'Heavily intoxicated' Man Allegedly Drove To Detachment, RCMP Say

'Heavily intoxicated' Man Allegedly Drove To Detachment, RCMP Say
ANTIGONISH, N.S. — Nova Scotia RCMP didn't have to go far to arrest a suspected drunk driver: he came to them.

'Heavily intoxicated' Man Allegedly Drove To Detachment, RCMP Say

Approaching Monsoon Season Sparks Concerns For Refugees In Bangladesh

Approaching Monsoon Season Sparks Concerns For Refugees In Bangladesh
International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says aid organizations are already overwhelmed by the massive influx of Muslim-minority refugees from neighbouring Myanmar.

Approaching Monsoon Season Sparks Concerns For Refugees In Bangladesh

Tooba Yahya, Mother In Shafia Murder Case, Has Permanent Resident Status Revoked

Tooba Yahya, Mother In Shafia Murder Case, Has Permanent Resident Status Revoked
MONTREAL — A woman found guilty of murdering her three daughters in a so-called honour killing was stripped of her permanent residency Thursday and ordered deported from the country.

Tooba Yahya, Mother In Shafia Murder Case, Has Permanent Resident Status Revoked

Alberta Family Murdered And Burned: Four Years Later, Friends Still Wonder Why

Alberta Family Murdered And Burned: Four Years Later, Friends Still Wonder Why
CASTOR, Alta. — More than four years after three members of a central Alberta family were murdered, the biggest question still remains unanswered for their friends — why?

Alberta Family Murdered And Burned: Four Years Later, Friends Still Wonder Why