Gas prices in B.C. set to drop after weeks-long spike but experts warn of future increases
CBC
B.C. can expect a significant decline in gas prices over the next few days, giving residents a reprieve from historic highs over the last several weeks.
Gas Wizard, an online price tracker and forecaster, has predicted the price per litre of regular on B.C.'s South Coast could dip to $1.92 on Thursday — a significant drop from $2.40.
Prices at the pump have been hitting stratospheric heights across much of B.C. since late September, topping $2.40 for a litre of regular in Metro Vancouver.
Experts attributed the jump to the fact that several refineries in North America went offline or ran into problems at the same time.
Refineries in Edmonton and Washington state were both down for maintenance, as is customary in September, but there were also issues with refineries in California and Ohio.
Experts have said sky-high prices and global warming can help motivate the switch from fossil fuel burners to electric or zero-emission vehicles, supply issues notwithstanding.
In the spring, provincial Energy Minister Bruce Ralston said B.C. is not considering a cap on gas prices.
The B.C. NDP has maintained that stance since 2019 after a government report concluded regulating gas prices provides "some price stability" but does not lead to "lower prices for consumers" overall.
Werner Antweiler, an economics professor with UBC's Sauder School of Business, says the astronomical highs this past few weeks were not expected to last.
"It was clear it's going to be remedied as soon as the capacity for refineries came back online."
Antweiler says the refinery closures were an "unusual situation." He says refineries often schedule planned outages after driving season as demand dips slightly, but unplanned factors such as technical problems and the fire in an Ohio refinery led to price spikes.
Antweiler says British Columbians can expect more erratic price patterns because there is currently a tight market for refining capacity.
"We will see more price volatility in the future because of these situations that can happen again, and they probably will happen again."
He says the international oil markets also pose a threat to future gas prices.
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