A colleague recently complained on Facebook about filling up a car for $1.68/litre in Quebec…for 94 octane.
“That’s cute,” I thought. “Have you seen what’s going on in British Columbia?” What’s going on is that one litre of regular grade fuel will run you $1.73, making it the second week in a row where gas stations in B.C. have been breaking records. You can go ahead and blame the Easter Weekend for a part of it, but CTV News is reporting that a big part of the price hike has to do with a production cut at several U.S.-based refineries. According to the CBC, BCers have to pay over $0.60 per litre in taxes, buoyed by a recent increase in BC’s carbon tax to $40/ton. CTV News cited that this is double that of many other Provinces, which obviously isn’t helping the situation.
While B.C. Premier John Horgan claimed that the government was considering some relief for the gas prices in early April, exactly the opposite has happened during that time as gas prices continue to increase. With the reduced production rates of Northwestern U.S. refineries not showing any signs of changing, it may be a while before B.C. residents get any relief in terms of fuel costs. Horgan did ask that the industry invest more to increase production at Canadian facilities. A decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion between Alberta and B.C. is also due early this summer, which could also lead to more supply, and a reduction in cost.
For now, BCers are either going to have to accept the increased cost of driving, or change their behaviour by carpooling or finding alternate modes of transportation such as bikes or public transit.
