Gas Prices Face Upward Pressure

Gas prices in BC are about 3 cents lower than they were a year  ago — but a national analyst expects the price at the pump to rise.

Dan McTeague from GasBuddy.com says with OPEC and the Alberta government both reducing oil production, drivers should expect to see the cost of filling up moving slightly higher by week’s end.

“With OPEC and other several other producing nations making good on their December pledge to reduce oil production collectively by 1.2 million barrels a day, combined with the Alberta government’s 325k per day crude production “curtailment”, which also began last Tuesday, energy prices are set to begin a slow move higher at the nation’s pumps,” says McTeague, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. “After nearly 3 months of declines on the energy markets and savings totaling nearly 30 cents a litre average since the early October highs for crude, drivers should expect to see the cost of filling up moving slightly higher by week’s end, with a good number of gas bars restoring uneconomical retail margins.”

He says central BC, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg should expect a net 2 cent a litre rise.