The all-time record for gas prices in Greater Victoria was officially broken this weekend and continues to remain in place.
Prices at the pump are now listed at 172.9 cents per litre, which is a new all-time record according to GasBuddy.com.
Last month, Dan McTeague — President at Canadians for Affordable Energy — anticipated that the price in Victoria would rise to at least 170.9 cents per litre for multiple factors.
And #Victoria – look to see #GasPrices rise 8 cents to 170.9 cents a litre over the next couple of days https://t.co/Nf0voRUTy9
— Dan McTeague (@GasPriceWizard) June 30, 2021
These factors include a combination of things — which are also impacting Vancouver and the Lower Mainland — maintenance on the Olympic Pipeline in B.C., the mechanical breakdown of an FCC unit at a provincial refinery and increased demand for gasoline due to the recent heat conditions.
Victoria and Vancouver are two cities currently boasting some of the most expensive gas in North America.
McTeague is also predicting that these prices will be here to stay for the coming weeks.
Adam Pankratz of the UBC Sauder School of Business says the simple way to look at what’s happening is the opposite of what was seen at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
People are “wanting to finally move after all this time locked inside,” and that combined with an OPEC dispute on production rates is driving up demand.
“The oil still has to catch up, so it’s going to take a while and that will depend on how willing producers are to take on the risk of guessing where the supply might go,” said Pankratz.
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