There were some unexpected lineups at gas stations in the Okanagan on Monday after gas prices dropped.
At Kelowna’s Super Save on Highway 33, gas was going for 109.9 cents per litre.
“That’s well below cost,” said Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy. “And so I would have to think that gas stations are duking it out, and as a result, consumers are the big winner.
“It looks like a little bit of a mini-gas war.”
It costs most gas stations approximately $1.16 per litre to buy their fuel, McTeague said.
“Looks like a few gas retailers were spoiling for a fight,” he said. “How long it will last? Take advantage of it while you can.”
The price of wholesale gas across the country has been relatively stable since September, McTeague said.
Meanwhile, because of the rail disruptions that are happening across the country, McTeague is warning that the Lower Mainland could see shortages as early as the end of this week if the blockades continue.
“We don’t know how long this obstruction will continue, but there’s no doubt it will have an effect on heating fuels — especially propane, but also on gasoline,” McTeague said.
Despite the possible shortage for the Lower Mainland, McTeague does not expect the wholesale price of gas to change.
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“The reason the price won’t change at the wholesale level is simply because there’s no disruption with refineries, unless of course there’s a problem getting access to oil or crude.”
He said the last time there was a disruption that started to impact some supplies was when CN had its strike at the end of November.
“This has been going on for 12 days now,” McTeague said. “I suspect that if this does not get resolved within the week, we’re going to see some significant shortages that are going to crop up in various cities across Canada, not just for fuel, but for other products as well.”
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