Holiday gift ahead for many Metro Vancouver drivers, says gas analyst
Posted November 20, 2023 6:51 am.
Last Updated November 20, 2023 3:28 pm.
A few extra bucks could be available in your holiday budget, as more predictions come that gas will drop another 10-to-20 cents in the weeks ahead.
Metro Vancouver drivers willing to search around a bit could already fill up for less than $1.70 per litre for regular gas over the weekend.
As of Sunday night, the average price in the region was $1.7447, according to GasBuddy.com, but the price tracker listed a litre of regular gasoline at $1.679 in Langley on 200th Street near 40th Avenue.
On Monday morning, there were reports of regular priced at $1.699 along the Fraser Highway in Surrey’s Clayton Heights neighbourhood and also along North Road in Burnaby.
If predictions come true and weaker demand, along with softer oil prices, keep pushing fuel prices down, a significant drop is still expected in the weeks ahead, according to GasBuddy.com’s head petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan.
“With oil prices struggling as of late, we should see additional declines as we head into the holiday season, with gas prices potentially falling another 10-20 cents by the end of the year if everything goes well,” De Haan said in a weekly briefing.
Given prices in Metro Vancouver on Monday, that could mean regular gas being around $1.50, which would be a nice holiday gift for many local drivers.
De Haan added the national average price for gasoline in Canada this week dropped below $1.50 per litre for the first time since spring.
While crude oil prices were on the rise Monday morning, due to expectations of further supply cuts by OPEC+, the price per barrel is still down almost 20 per cent since September.
