A Canadian gas specialist says Okanagan motorists should be prepared for fluctuating gas prices over the next few days.
On Friday, some gas stations in the Central Okanagan increased their prices by 17 cents a litre for regular, up to $1.699.
Not all were selling at the new high price, though. As of noon, some stations were at $1.529 or $1.549 a litre.
In nearby Penticton, prices on the website GasBuddy.com also showed a wide range in prices, from $1.574 to $1.699.
In Vernon, gas prices appeared to be unchanged as of Friday morning, with stations posted between $1.489 and $1.549. It was the same in Salmon Arm and its nearby communities, with prices between $1.509 and $1.569.
The rise in gas prices is being blamed on a surge in the cost of oil because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The benchmark West Texas Intermediate price sat at US$92 per barrel on Thursday afternoon after briefly trading above US$100 per barrel earlier in the day. Brent crude fell to US$99 a barrel, after topping US$105 a barrel for the first time since 2014 on Thursday morning.
“What we’re seeing is a pretty big increase in the pumps,” said Dan McTeague, who is the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy and also operates the website GasWizard.ca.
McTeague said the jump isn’t surprising, “given that we’ve also seen wholesale prices move in response during the past week or so to the threat — and now the threat has become real — of Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine.”
McTeague said it costs gas stations in Kelowna $1.56 a litre to buy their fuel, “so selling for $1.53, sooner or later, their bank would call them or their rich uncle would call the (bank) note. You have to throw in the towel and raise those prices.”
However, he said retail prices could fall either by this weekend or next Wednesday, adding $1.699 is a highwater mark unless NATO orders soldiers into Ukraine, or the U.S, G7 and NATO “decide to buy a spine and actually sanction the finances that Russia gets to weaponize its soldiers through oil and gas.”
He continued, saying “until the allies are prepared to do that, I don’t see anything that would suggest oil and gas prices move higher until we get into summer demand.”
On Tuesday, ABC News reported that prices in California reached record levels at $4.742 a gallon, up from $1.30 a gallon one year ago. The national average, according to AAA, is $3.51 a gallon.
According to a website dedicated to converting the price of American gas into Canadian, that price works out to be $1.60 a litre.
In Spokane, Wash., prices ranged from $3.35 to $3.65 a gallon, which translates into $1.13 to $1.23 a litre.
In Canada, GasBuddy is showing an average price of $1.469 a litre in Calgary and between $1.779 and $1.809 in Vancouver.
On Thursday, Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst at En-Pro International Inc., said he expected gas prices across the country to rise approximately five cents per litre this weekend.
“If you are only filling up once a week or that sort of thing, get anything in your tank that you can before Saturday,” McKnight said on Thursday. “But if you’re a daily filler, there’s really not much you can do.”
Should things remain relatively stable, McTeague says given the cost that stations have to buy their gas at, he predicts $1.61 to $1.65 or so will be the new price per litre.
“It only takes a couple of stations to do that,” he said. “But if (you’re) seeing gas stations sell below $1.55 tomorrow, know that’s below-cost selling.”
— With files from The Canadian Press