Gasoline prices in Canada are up sharply across the country compared to the same time period in 2017, reports GasBuddy.com, an online gas price comparison website.
According to GasBuddy, the average price of regular gasoline in Canada on Monday was about $1.33 per litre, up 22 cents from an average of $1.11 per litre at the same time last year. The record high for gasoline on the same day was set on April 30, 2014 at just over $1.37 a litre.
Gas prices in Vancouver have spiked to all-time record highs of $1.61 per litre, but are forecast to fall by four to six cents per litre over the next few weeks as two refineries in neighbouring Washington state start up after maintenance shutdowns, said GasBuddy.
However, gasoline prices throughout Canada are expected to rise throughout the spring and summer as driving season gets into full swing. GasBuddy does not foresee a decrease in the price Canadians pay at the pump until autumn of this year – with record prices expected in Montreal and Toronto this summer.
Rising oil prices are driving fuel prices higher. The benchmark price of U.S. crude oil last week hit US$68.64 per barrel, the highest since December 2014. Fuel prices usually rise across Canada and the United States during the spring maintenance cycle at refineries, which tightens supply. But strong domestic economies are supporting even higher prices at the same time that demand is being boosted by exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast to customers in Mexico and South America.
Other factors that have helped drive oil prices higher include a wave of global economic growth, which has driven demand for oil higher and production cutbacks initiated by OPEC last year, which have whittled down oil supplies.
