Metro Vancouver gas pump prices hit North American all-time high

Gas prices at the pump have hit a new milestone Friday, with Metro Vancouver taking out a new North American all-time high at $2.419 for a litre of regular gas at some stations across the region.

The high comes after a steady rise in gas prices, which saw prices rise almost 40 cents a litre in just a matter of days.

According to the Canadian Automobile Association, the average price of gas in Vancouver is $2.355 per litre, up from $2.321 per litre on Thursday.

Last week’s average was $2.074 per litre of regular gas, while this time last year was $1.551 per litre.

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The price of gas at the pump across the country is averaging $1.612 per litre, almost 80 cents cheaper than the gas available in Metro Vancouver.

Since June, the price of gas has been pushing $2.30 and above.

The head petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com says one of the longest gas price declines on record has finally come to an end earlier this week after over a dozen weeks, blaming a “myriad [of] refinery issues” across the country.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a wider gamut of price behaviours coast-to-coast in my career,” Patrick DeHaan told CityNews.

“A slew of unexpected refinery disruptions, including fires and routine maintenance, have seemingly all happened in a short span of time, causing wholesale gas prices to spike in areas of the West Coast, Great Lakes and Prairies, and some of those areas could see prices spike another 10 to 20 cents per litre or more until issues are worked out.”

DeHaan adds even more refiners could see disruption as Hurricane Ian batters the U.S. coast.

“There remain many factors driving prices both up and down across the country.”