Fill up now, Vancouver gas prices tipped to go up in coming weeks

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Enjoy the lower gas prices we’re paying right now in the Lower Mainland because they’re not going to last.

That’s the sentiment from University of British Columbia economic professor Werner Antweiler. He blames a blip in global oil prices for the lower cost at stations, but adds things have already recovered.

“We saw prices go as low as $1.50 in many places here in the Lower Mainland, and then climbing up again in the last few days,” he says. “I fully expect that these prices will continue to rise a bit as the higher cost of crude oil, with a small delay, will be passed on to motorists.”

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Antweiler says over the next couple of weeks, when the fall driving season usually starts, prices will likely be back up by 10 cents a litre.

“I think we can see prices climb up a little more even to $1.70 or even a little higher than that but eventually come late September, we should see prices ease off again because we’re at the end of the driving season so there will be some volatility.”

He says drivers need to be prepared for higher gas prices over the coming years.

“I think prices in the $1.60 to $1.70 range are here to stay, so motorists need to be prepared to pay high gasoline prices,” he says.

“And the trend will be upwards as carbon prices will also of course, rise over the next decades. We all need to kind of look at gasoline prices that have a tendency to go up rather than down in the future.”