Sign up for the meadowlakeNOW newsletter

Some holiday cheer at the pumps

Dec 14, 2018 | 4:00 PM

Prices at the pumps could drop another few cents before Christmas, according to one gas price analyst.

Dan McTeague with the price tracking app GasBuddy, told paNOW the recent slide in gas prices, is in response to crude prices bottoming out at $52 per barrel, and as retailers of gasoline re-supply they have found their wholesale price has dropped.

“When you consider that just eight weeks ago everyone thought oil might move to $100 per barrel, and we would be paying somewhere around $1.15 to $1.20 per litre, the fact that we are down as low as we are really is a blessing in disguise,” he said.

As of noon Friday, the average price of regular gas in Prince Albert was $103.9 per litre. Meanwhile Melfort gas stations were selling gas at 90.9 cents per litre and both Regina and Nipawin were at 99.9 cents per litre. McTeague said prices vary across the country, as retailers try to compete with the big box stores who offer gas at a discount to get people in their stores.

“If I am here in Saskatchewan, my bottom line is about 92 or 93 cents per litre depending who my supplier is. I can’t go much below that but in places like Calgary or Edmonton and in some extent Regina, you’ll often see gas prices at or below that,” he said.

McTeague said gas prices as a whole are about four cents cheaper than they were at this time last year. He said drivers should take advantage of the lower prices while they can, adding prices will spike again with the introduction of the federal carbon tax on Jan. 1.

“That’s good enough for about a five cent jolt per litre permanently at the pumps. Of course that’ll go up 2.5 cents or thereabouts every year until Jan 1, 2022,” he said.

 

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell