Gas prices may continue to lower in Canada: GasBuddy

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Gas prices are considerably lower than last year in Fort St. John and across Canada, and may continue to decrease as the summer wears on.

Patrick De Haan, Lead Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy, said the average price in B.C. is $186.1 on Thursday.

“Prices a year ago were about 213.3 a litre, so well over $2 a litre a year ago,” De Haan said.

He said this is due to the changes in the past year, such as the Canadian Central Bank raising interest rates, which has slowed Canada’s economy.

“Broadly speaking, the increase in interest rates is throttling back the global economy, and that’s slowing down consumption and allowing the price of oil to moderate, and that’s what’s leading to a big drop in prices from where we were a year ago,” De Haan said.

In addition, he said gas prices tend to start the summer rather high and begin to decrease around Canada Day.

“Typically, prices peak before the summer as we make the transition to cleaner burning gasoline, which is required in the summer months,” De Haan said.

“That’s also the same time refineries carry out routine maintenance before the summer driving season.”

He said typically, the high point for gas is spring or early summer, and prices “fall from there.”

“Once we get into September, October, by Canadian Thanksgiving, we could see the Canadian average somewhere in the $1.30 to $1.40 a litre area, as long as there are no caveats,” De Haan said.

He said caveats could include hurricanes or outages at refineries.

De Haan said last year’s high gas prices were due in part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Canadian economy “rebounding” from the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to GasBuddy, regular gas prices in Fort St. John range from 164.9 to 165.9.