Fueling up in Vernon (Image Credit: Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Gas Price Hikes

Geopolitics, production causing recent fluctuations in local gas price

Feb 5, 2026 | 2:14 PM

Prices at the pumps across the Okanagan have been jumping up and down over the past few weeks, and that has been tied to broader activities around the world. 

Patrick De Hann, the Head of Petroleum Analysis for the fuel price tracking website GasBuddy, told Vernon Matters that Vernon and the Okanagan had seen gas prices rise and fall over the past several weeks, and that there were a lot of factors at play causing those fluctuations.

“Oil prices have been a little bit all over the map as the U.S. navigates a potential attack of Iran,” De Haan explained.

“The price of oil had dropped to as low as $57 a barrel just a little over three weeks ago, it then jumped to as high as $66 a barrel, and now today (Feb. 5) it’s back down three per cent to about $63 a barrel. So that’s kind of the first layer here, the uncertainty over what could develop if the U.S. attacks Iran, oil prices had jumped on the potential that that could really impact the amount of oil being supplied from Iran. 

“In addition, we’re starting to see at the refining level some issues on the West Coast. The slated permanent shutdown of the Valero refinery in Benicia, California, slated for less than eight weeks from now, has driven some volatility in the West Coast, combined with the now start of the transition to summer gasoline [production] in Southern California which further fragments the entire West Coast of North America, whether it’s B.C. or down in the states, and that’s leading to prices increasing virtually across the West Coast through Canada and the U.S.”

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The representative from GasBuddy added the trade relations between Canada and the U.S. was also a “complicating factor” in the fuel prices, as it has resulted in the value of the Canadian dollar also fluctuating.

“That’s important because oil prices and gasoline prices are globally traded in U.S. dollars,” De Haan told Vernon Matters. 

“So when you see the Canadian dollar suddenly plummet in value it can cause prices to go up at the pump, potentially making that gasoline derived in U.S. dollars more expensive. When the Canadian dollar strengthens the opposite happens, it has an effect of pushing prices lower.”

The Petroleum Analyst stated these factors were not unique to just the Okanagan, but were also resulting in gas prices rising and falling elsewhere in North America. He also stated these play a much larger role than local supply and demand in affecting prices.

De Haan added there were no indications of trends that would push the gasoline prices either higher or lower, with the exception of the seasonal increases typically seen in March and April due to the switch to summer gasoline, and encouraged people to compare prices at their local stations when they need to fuel up.

As of Thursday, Feb. 5, the average price for a litre of regular gasoline in Vernon was $1.37.9. That was down four cents from both the day and the week before, and was also down 22 cents annually, but was up 18 cents from January’s average.