Gas prices fall below $2/litre at some Metro Vancouver stations

Gas prices dipped below $2/litre at some Metro Vancouver gas stations on Friday.

Metro Vancouver drivers saw some relief at gas stations Friday, as the price per litre dipped just below 200 cents at many locations.

In some cases, prices dropped by as much as 15 cents. Over the past several days, prices for regular gas ranged between 205 and 214 cents per litre.

But prices are still high compared to recent months and experts say the minor relief could be short-lived as much of B.C.'s gas comes from the United States.

"There's been news going on in the U.S. that demand has breached all-time records for March," Vijay Muralidharan from Kalibrate told CTV News Vancouver this week. 

"That doesn't bode well. If demand is strong, refinery margins are going to be high and higher refinery margins means higher gasoline prices."

As well, the B.C. government does not have plans to follow Alberta's step of putting a moratorium on the provincial fuel tax to curb high costs at the pumps. Instead, Premier John Horgan has placed blame for skyrocketing prices on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

For those looking to maximize their fuel efficiency, Josh Smythe, an automotive specialist and customer care manager at BCAA, said drivers should service their car regularly and keep tires properly inflated.

"Maintenance plays a huge part in making sure the power or the energy supplied by the fuel actually gets to the road," he told CTV News Vancouver.

"There's this energy loss through the engine just from road contact, so you're not getting 100 per cent of power out of the fuel to the road. But the better maintained your vehicle is, the less resistance, less friction, and less power loss."

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Travis Prasad and Meagan Gill