REGINA – Gassing up has been a little easier on your wallet lately.
The price at the pump in Saskatchewan has dropped an average of ten cents per litre over the last month, according to GasBuddy.com. The average is $1.13, with some stations hovering around a dollar for regular fuel.
Filling up could get even cheaper, still.
“I don’t think we’re going to go down to 2008 levels when we were down even to 60 cents per litre, but I do think the average for Saskatchewan is going to get close to a dollar,” said Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com
The decline isn’t good news for the government, though, because oil makes up about 11 per cent of provincial revenues.
The good news is the price of crude was higher than expected for the first six months of the fiscal year, but it can’t stay at roughly $82 a barrel for long without consequences.
“If that remains until March 31, of course we’ll have a significant revenue decline,” said finance minister Ken Krawetz. “But that’s a long ways away.”
The bigger hit could be in taxes, according to University of Regina economist Jason Childs, because oil companies and their employees may not be making or spending as much money.
That impact, however, is only felt when the price of oil is down over much longer periods.
“Are we going to be chasing $150 a barrel again anytime soon? No, I don’t think so,” Childs said. “Are we going to stay at $80 or $82 a barrel? I think we’re towards the bottom of the trough now.”
So, no need to feel guilty about the savings – when you’ll surely be griping about the cost of gas again sometime soon.
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