Gas prices could spike after crude hits high
Posted September 12, 2023 8:51 am.
Last Updated September 12, 2023 8:53 am.
There are indications gas prices could be back on the way up.
CityNews Business Editor Mike Eppel says the price of crude Tuesday morning was at its highest price in 10 months — north of $88 a barrel.
He notes crude is just one of the factors that could lead to a surge at the pump in parts of Canada.
“OPEC is warning that by the end of this year and the last quarter, we could see a daily supply shortfall for oil of three million barrels a day after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended their production cuts at the same time we’ve got record-breaking global demand for crude. All of this could be leading to an increase in global oil prices, and that’s all inflationary,” he explained.
This also means the Bank of Canada will be keeping an eye on the situation and could even alter its key interest rate in response, Eppel adds.
Around Metro Vancouver, the price at the pump was sitting at about $2.04 for a litre of regular in many areas to start the day Tuesday.
That came after prices surpassed the $2-a-litre mark Monday following a weekend in the $1.90s.
Prices around the region still remain lower than they did at the end of August, when they reached as much as $2.14, the highest level in months.
At that time, Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, attributed prices to an outage at a Los Angeles oil refinery. He said prices at or above $2/litre can be expected heading into the fall.
-With files from Emma Crawford
