Vancouver gas prices hit record high for 2nd day in a row

Another day, another North American gas price record set in Metro Vancouver.

As experts predicted Thursday – when gas prices in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria soared to 239.9 cents per litre – the price went up again on Friday.

Some stations in Vancouver were advertising a litre of regular for 241.9 cents on Friday, the second consecutive day that the region has set an all-time record.

The latest surge in the cost of gas has been blamed on local factors in the Pacific Northwest – specifically maintenance on a major refinery and pipeline. Prices elsewhere in Canada have not been spiking.

“It is driven only by local factors here on the West Coast and generally in North America. It has nothing to do with international oil markets this time,” said Werner Antweiler, an economics professor at UBC's Sauder School of Business, on Thursday.

Antweiler described the current spike – which has seen prices rise from less than $2 per litre to their current levels in just over a week – as "completely unheard of."

"I've never seen a price spike happen that quickly," he said.

According to the gas price prediction website Gas Wizard, drivers in Toronto were paying 156.9 per litre on Friday. In Montreal, the price was 172.9, and in Calgary it was 165.9. https://gaswizard.ca/price-history/

Relief is likely on the way, however. Analysts say they expect to see a 20-cent price drop within the next two weeks.