Heading into the long weekend, motorists won’t be seeing much of a change when it comes to gas prices.
The president of Canadians for Affordable Energy (CAE) said gas prices remain “very sticky” and have stayed in the $1.55 to $1.60 range for much of the past month or so.
“Prices generally for wholesale gasoline have dropped to an average of about $.14 to $0.15 a litre,” Dan McTeague said. “Rather than those prices being passed on to motorists, it looks like gas stations across the province are simply pocketing the difference for now until, of course, perhaps they paid for the higher prices for fuel that they were paying just a week ago.”
McTeague expects a correction to the downside in Saskatchewan, at least a dime a litre, and he thinks that will happen in the middle of next week.
“At that point, retailers will have very little to suggest why they should be maintaining prices when the base price for energy has dropped, for gasoline sold to them has dropped so dramatically,” he said. “What you see is what you’re going to get throughout the week with the bonus or the benefit or the gift, if you will, coming only next week.”
Roger McKnight, the chief petroleum analyst at En-Pro International, said there’s a delay when it comes to gas price drops in the Prairies.
“I’ve been fascinated by it for about a year now, and I just can’t explain it,” McKnight said. “That’s just the way it is. But something has to break pretty soon…. Everything’s pointing in a downward direction, and it should come to the Prairies very, very soon.”
McKnight said lower energy prices are beneficial for the consumer and businesses, especially the transportation industry.
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