Vancouver’s Canada Day gas prices to hit a 2-year low: analyst

Gas prices down on a long weekend?

Believe it or not, that’s the case heading into the Canada Day weekend, as gas prices in Metro Vancouver are trending about 12 cents below where they were for the same weekend in 2018.

Fuel price analyst Dan McTeague, now with Gaspricewizard.com, said that on Canada Day 2018, average prices for Vancouver were about $1.55 per litre.

As of Thursday morning, gas prices were averaging about $1.47, according to McTeague, but the website Gasbuddy.com listed some Vancouver prices as low as $1.269.

Gas on Canada Day weekend 2017 was averaging about $1.30, according to Gasbuddy.com.

WATCH: Gas prices fall dramatically in Metro Vancouver

2:32 Gas prices fall dramatically in Metro Vancouver

“What I would suggest, though, is that people understand that this time last year, of course, a different set of circumstances prevailed, and that’s one of the reasons why prices are a little bit cheaper now,” said McTeague.

According to McTeague, a West Coast supply crunch, which he said helped drive Vancouver prices to record levels in April and May, has eased with the U.S. importing more supply.

But he argued the major driver of a dip — which has helped push gas prices across Canada to a two-year low for the long weekend — is tied to international politics.

“What we’ve seen leading up to now has been markets panicking over the prospects leading out of a trade war between the United States and China as of the beginning of May,” he said.

“Many traders believing that a recession could be in the offing if the United States and China don’t resolve, or worse, intensify their trade dispute given the size of those economies.”

McTeague rejected the idea that a provincial inquiry into B.C. gas prices had anything to do with the dip, saying the timing of the province’s announcement happened to coincide with the collapse in the larger spot market.

Premier John Horgan announced the probe, which is being led by the B.C. Utilities Commission, in May, with the goal of establishing a “common set of facts” about the fuel market.

WATCH: New details on investigation into gas prices

2:23 New details on investigation into gas prices

Horgan has previously alleged that fuel companies may be “gouging” the public, but critics say the inquiry will be toothless because it is not empowered to look at government policies or the role of taxes — which add up to more than 50 cents per litre of Metro Vancouver gas — on prices.