Metro Vancouver gas prices dip ahead of long weekend, but not for long

Gas prices dropped almost a dime per litre for regular at many stations in Metro Vancouver Friday morning, giving some financial relief ahead for the start of the May long weekend.

Many reported the price had dipped to around $2.14 per litre for regular gas, which a significant change from the $2.30 per litre that many motorists have been paying in recent days.

However, one expert says that lower price won’t last.

Senior Petroleum Analyst Roger McKnight with En-Pro International says the price at the pump will go back up at least five cents on Saturday.

“Why it went down 10 cents is a little bit of a mystery and it’s pretty well right across the country,” McKnight said.

“I think what happened was there was some anticipation that the demand for refined products would drop due to the COVID situation in China… so everybody’s eyes glazed over. The speculators said, ‘OK, that will drive down demand, so we’ll drive down the price.’ But then lo and behold on Wednesday, we had the U.S. inventory report and that showed basically a drop in inventories of crude again. We had a drop in gasoline inventories again by 5 million barrels, so that threw the teeter-totter way out of whack, so the prices are going up tomorrow about five cents a litre, it’s just the merry-go-round,” he said.

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He says the price will be back to about $2.20/litre for regular and stay that way for the next week or so. McKnight adds the next two to three weeks will be critical when it comes to figuring out how much you pay to get the summer started.

“Our driving season is this weekend and the US driving season, the big one, is next weekend, so if demand keeps on going up and inventories keep on going down then the teeter-totter is not level, and the price will continue to rise. There’s a severe shortage of supply of crude and gasoline and there’s a severe crimping in the ability to refine it. So, you got something the oil companies can’t make enough of,” he said.

He admits things will get worse as he expects we could hit $2.40 a litre in the next couple of weeks, before they get better by the end of next month.

“It normally drops at that point in time, but I think you’re probably going to see it hovering in the very high $1.90’s. Maybe government will get involved and look at taxes, but I don’t think they will. Taxes are the cash cow for the federal and provincial governments, so I don’t think they’ll do much about that.”

B.C. pays some of the highest in all of North America and the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation says that would be a route to take to give some relief to drivers.

“Drivers are fighting to afford to drive to work and high taxes are making it much worse,” says Kris Sims, B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Politicians in Ottawa and Victoria could make fuel prices more affordable by scrapping some of these taxes.”

McKnight stresses supply is a major sticking point, and he says we should all be looking to the U.S..

“I’m very concerned about what the U.S. is doing with exporting crude to Europe to make up for the Russia-Ukraine sanctions situation. They’re taking crude right out of their strategic petroleum reserve and putting it on a ship and sending it over to Europe. It’s not even getting into the North American market whatsoever, so that crude is going out to Europe and it’s creating a tight situation in North America and that’s driving up prices.”

Cross-border drivers

Despite a slight dip in local gas prices, many people will still head south to fill up the tank, but that comes with a stern warning from the Surrey RCMP.

Over the Easter long weekend, Mounties say they got more than 100 complaints to the emergency line about the congestion at the Pacific Highway crossing.

Drivers using the Pacific Highway Border crossing this long weekend – stay on 176 St/8 Ave and do not cut through residential side streets to access the border. Plan your trip outside of peak times and monitor wait times before you go. Read more: https://t.co/okxqB6KLLg @DriveBC pic.twitter.com/SJd3PQdRBe

— Surrey RCMP (@SurreyRCMP) May 20, 2022

“We recognize the frustrations of community members who reside near the border crossing who had access to their own homes or businesses limited by border traffic over the last long weekend,” says Surrey RCMP Cpl. Vanessa Munn.

“We encourage travellers to be proactive if their plans include crossing the border, be prepared to wait, and do not call police to complain about the wait times.”