Metro Vancouver gas prices could go back up over the $2 mark: expert

If you were hoping to continue paying less than $2 for a litre of gas in Metro Vancouver, you may be out of luck. One industry expert says prices could soon be on the way back up.

This comes as we’re starting to see the price at the pump slowly start to increase. Some stations are posting $1.98 per litre of regular after we had been paying somewhere in the mid-to-high $1.80s for a while.

We’re also getting a better idea of why B.C. continues to pay so much for gas compared to the rest of the country.

Aside from taxes, Paul Pasco, the principal consultant with Kalibrate, says people on the West Coast of both Canada and the U.S. are paying more, in part, because of raging wildfires, which are tightening the supply and, in some cases, leading to refinery outages.

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“You might see some easing on the horizon. I was looking and prices in Kelowna had started to take a little dip, so I’m hoping that trend that will carry through, but there is no immediate relief on the horizon from the wildfires in California, so it is possible prices could rise. The overall tightness in crude markets is starting to show its head again,” he told CityNews.

Pasco explains another reason why B.C. drivers are paying so much is because the province is part of PADD 5, which is the regional breakdown of supply and distribution. That includes getting fuel to places like Alaska, California, Oregon, and so on.

“PADD 5 is just at the end of the refinery supply chain getting from the U.S. Gulf Coast outwards, so there’s [the] highest transportation costs and Canada is tied into that system and so we just see that as just a factor of how expensive it is to get the fuel to the market.”

Despite the increase again, Metro Vancouver Drivers are still paying far less than the record prices they saw earlier this year, when a litre of regular was going for more than $2.35 in some areas.

Meanwhile, Pasco doesn’t think B.C. will ever reach a point where we’d be able to rely on ourselves for consistent supply.

“I would love to say, ‘Yes,’ but I don’t think it’s possible. I think the supply network is set up how it is with deliveries coming in. Some coming in a pipeline and absolutely if Alberta were to add some capacity and ship more fuel down pipelines, possible, but I also don’t see Alberta building any refineries anytime soon.”

Pasco says gas is only one aspect of the equation. Diesel prices are also being affected right now.

“With diesel shortages continuing refineries are pushing out as much fuel as they can, gasoline is made alongside diesel. So, as they have been trying to catch up on diesel more gasoline is slowly becoming available to the market. We even saw a slight build in diesel stocks last week as well.”

In the short-term, he thinks drivers in Metro Vancouver may see some minor relief of two to five cents but then expects prices to go up.