Rising gas prices are here, but despite record highs relief for much of the country could be in sight.
The price of gas has been rising across the country for weeks, and are now at record highs in some places. Prices in parts of greater Vancouver have hit more than $1.60 per litre of regular gas, with remote areas seeing prices in excess of $1.70 per litre.
Across the country, the trend continues. The average price of regular unleaded in Toronto is now $1.374 according to Natural Resources Canada. That's up from $1.23 per litre in mid-March. Calgary has seen a similar jump from $1.07 to $1.288. Nationwide, the price is up more than 13 cents per litre to $1.376 yesterday. Regulation in the Atlantic provinces has slowed the national average increase, as those provinces won't see another jump until later in the week. Central and Western provinces are seeing nearly daily increases over the last week.
Drivers using diesel aren't faring much better, although the price of that fuel is at least more stable. Diesel is averaging $1.286 per litre across the country, up from $1.23 at the start of the year.
Why the climb in gas prices? We spoke with former MP Dan McTeague, now of GasBuddy.com about some of the reasons for the higher prices and when they could come back down. Oil has been climbing, nearing US$70 per barrel, which starts the price increase. And in that number lies one of the other reasons driving higher prices.
The world market for oil and gasoline trades in US dollars. The low Canadian dollar means that we're paying more for our fuels, even though much of it comes from producers and refineries in Canada. In BC, much of the gas and oil comes through a pipeline that is being shared between gas and oil. That limited capacity drives prices in that province.
The seasonal changeover from winter to summer gas is also taking place, and that can cause a tightening of supply that raises prices. It's also the start of the summer driving season. More consumption means higher prices at the pumps too. More than that, McTeague said that Canada is subject to the demands for gasoline of the US and other countries, not the other way around. Their demand and production affects our prices more than ours does the rest of the world.
But prices should begin to come back down. McTeague said that drivers in much of the country could see prices fall four to five cents over the next few days. Regulated provinces will likely still see a small jump this week, but nationwide prices should fall until at least the Victoria day long weekend, he predicted.
