The May long weekend is the unofficial start to the summer driving season, and one gas analyst says filling up your vehicle might not cost you as much as it has in the past.
Patrick De Haan, chief petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, suggests the price of gas already peaked this spring, on April 19. The price for a litre of regular is now well down from that, and he notes oil prices have been trending downward.
“In addition, the wholesale price of gasoline has been moderating, refineries have been finishing up their maintenance, we’ve made the transition back to more expensive blends of gasoline required for the summer. With that pressure behind us and with oil prices declining, we may continue to see relief here as we progress through the summer,” he told CityNews.
“Western Canada is still dealing with some refinery challenges — that is, refineries down in California still have been doing maintenance work and that has been putting pressure not just in the California market, but many of the refineries in California produce fuels for the Pacific Northwest as well. Once those refineries are done with maintenance, I do expect relief for much of Western Canada as well. But there is a little bit of risk associated with that maintenance, if it goes longer than expected or if there are unexpected issues as those refineries begin to restart here in the weeks ahead. But I do think that most of Canada should continue to see downward pressure on prices as we progress through the month of June.”
De Haan says the price for a litre of regular has dropped about 10 cents over the last couple of weeks, after a peak around Metro Vancouver in the $2.20 range.
Prices as of the start of the May long weekend were hovering in the low $1.90s for a litre of regular.
He adds prices should also remain far below the record levels we saw in 2022, despite increases to things like the carbon tax.
While De Haan doesn’t foresee any major increases in the weeks and months ahead, De Haan notes nothing is for certain. Hurricane season in the U.S. has the potential to create a mess, if refineries south of the border are forced to close due to the weather later in the summer.
“I think for most of the summer we should see the Canadian average probably hover in the middle-dollar-a-litre range and we should continue to see relief over the course of the summer,” he explained.