Gas prices hit new highs around Metro Vancouver, surpassing 180.9/litre

If you’ve stopped to fill up your car in recent days, you may have noticed the price of gas has been creeping up again across Metro Vancouver.

But as of Wednesday morning, we’ve never seen prices quite this high. A litre of regular has hit 182.9 in some parts of Vancouver, surpassing previous records in the region.

Some people have reported higher

Experts blame the surge in prices on a number of factors, such as global instability.

Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst, En-Pro International, says if the current prices have you surprised, you may want to brace yourselves for the coming days.

“It’s a very, very volatile market right now, being driven by different forces that are driving the price up or down or sideways,” he explained.

Well, this hurts. 182.9 for a litre of regular in #Vancouver this Wednesday morning. #gasprices #1130gastracker pic.twitter.com/MLEUEe2uRj

— Hana Mae Nassar (@HanaMaeNassar) February 16, 2022

“Currently, prices are moving up but tomorrow they’re going down and I think the day after that they’re probably going to go up again. It’s all following the bouncing ball of the price of crude, it’s following the laws of supply and demand. There’s very tight supply and exceedingly high demand. And then we have refinery runs that are slowing down, getting ready for the potential driving season.”

McKnight notes crude oil is the main factor that guides the price of gasoline, and there’s a tight supply of it right now.

“It’s pretty tight supply,” he told CityNews, pointing to OPEC, which can’t just increase supply “at the drop of a hat,” contrary to what some may claim.

“They said they would increase by 400,000 barrels a day starting in August. Last month, they did 65,000 barrels. So there’s very little spare capacity and the demand is going right through the roof,” he added.

A lot of production was taken offline this time last year and the year before when there were fewer drivers on the road due to the pandemic, McKnight says.

When it comes to relief from these rising prices, McKnight says that may not come until this spring. He warns Metro Vancouver could even see prices hit as high as 189.9 at some point — but only time will tell.

“You’re going to see the highest prices you’ve ever had over the next three months,” McKnight said.

Despite the high prices, McKnight says they may not deter everyone from getting back behind the wheel.

“I think what’s overwhelming that philosophy of demand destruction is the fact that people have been locked in their living rooms and basements for about, going on three years now. There’s a lot of cash sitting around, there’s a lot of frustration that people want to get out of their system. People want to get back on the road,” he explained. “Certainly $2 a litre would get people saying, ‘I don’t think I’ll go out today.’ But I can’t really see that happening, or if it did, it wouldn’t stick.”