U.S. gas demands cause prices at the pump to jump dramatically in Metro Vancouver: analyst

Drivers across the Lower Mainland are taking a hit.

First came the snow on Saturday, making the roads (not to mention the sidewalks) icy and creating treacherous driving conditions.

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And next was a sudden jump in the price of gas over the weekend.

Metro Vancouver drivers saw the price at the pumps jump to $1.35 per litre, about 20 cents higher than it was for most of last month.

According to the website GasBuddy.com, lower prices can be found at some stations in Langley and Surrey. The site also reports that the price of gas around Metro Vancouver at this time last year was about $1.19 per litre.

Some experts are saying the high demand for gas in the United States coupled with the low Canadian dollar are to blame for the rapid price hike.

“The U.S. economy is strengthening at the time when the Canadian economy seems to be flattening,” said Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com.

“The demand picture for gasoline in the U.S. is going through the roof. People are driving more, driving further, driving bigger cars. So while Canada is looking at measures to conserve through carbon taxes and cap and trades, Americans have no such trepidation.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The U.S. economy is strengthening at the time when the Canadian economy seems to be flattening," said Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com.</p><p>"The demand picture for gasoline in the U.S. is going through the roof. People are driving more, driving further, driving bigger cars. So while Canada is looking at measures to conserve through carbon taxes and cap and trades, Americans have no such trepidation."

McTeague goes on to say the U.S. economy is much stronger, which means their fuel demand is much higher.

“And as a result — because of markets like Vancouver where we buy a lot of our gasoline from the U.S. directly — we don’t produce enough for our own domestic needs. We pay a much higher price, and that premium is pretty substantial.”

The average gas price in B.C. is currently $1.24 per litre, according to GasBuddy. In Vancouver the average is $1.35, while in other Canadian cities the price is much lower with people in Toronto paying $1.14 a litre at the pump and $1.12 in Calgary.

McTeague says although Canada has been told it should be paying world prices for petroleum, that isn’t the case —  especially when it comes to the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, in particular, Victoria.

“You’re looking at about a 15-cent-a-litre premium just because we don’t produce enough in our backyard,” McTeague said.