While Americans have seen their cheapest summer at the gas pumps in more than a decade, Metro Vancouver drivers aren’t getting the same break north of the border.
That situation is unlikely to change, given the weakening Canadian dollar, higher taxes, refinery surcharges and an increased retail mark-up by corporate-owned gas stations that just rose from nine cents to 11 cents in the past week, said Dan McTeague, of GasBuddy.com, an online site that tracks gasoline prices.
With oil commodity prices tied to the American dollar and a slew of competition among refineries south of the border, McTeague says “you just can’t win in Canada.”
“All of these elements explain why we have a huge price delta in what we pay in Vancouver and south of the border,” he said. “Sure (the Americans) are celebrating but they haven’t seen the tax increases we’ve seen here, and they don’t have the dearth of refineries and wholesalers like we do.”
A report by GasBuddy notes American motorists have seen the lowest gas prices leading up to Labour Day since 2004, saving $18.9 billion over the same time last summer, mainly because of increased supply outpacing demand and renewed competition between oil-producing companies to win market share. GasBuddy data suggests that since 2005, U.S. gas prices between the end of August and Labour Day have dropped seven out of ten times.
Over the same time period Metro Vancouver has seen fluctuating prices ranging from $1.05 a litre to $1.17 between 2005 and 2010, then surging as high as $1.43 per litre in 2014 before dropping to $1.18 per litre last year. Gas prices are now hovering around $1.23 per litre in Metro Vancouver.
While drivers can still get a break if they head south of the border to fill up, McTeague said they would still likely pay more if they use a Canadian credit card. Gas prices in Blaine or Bellingham, for instance, are now at about $2.70 per gallon (84 cents per litre) but if the gas is purchased with a Canadian credit card McTeague said motorists would pay 94 cents a litre because of a higher refinery surcharge.
Amanda Allison, who works at a Shell station in Blaine, Wash., said about 85 per cent of their customers are Canadian, and they usually see drivers year round.
McTeague said he expects the price situation will prompt even more people from Metro Vancouver to head south of the border to fill up, rather than buying gas at home.
“It’s not that consumption is necessarily down,” he said. “There are more efficiencies, but people are moving south with their cars.”
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