Gas prices in Metro Vancouver could soar to new record highs in 2023, analysts say
Despite some recent relief at the pumps, analysts are predicting gas prices in Metro Vancouver could soar past 2022’s record highs later this year.
Drivers in the region could be paying $2.65 a litre by summertime, according to Kalibrate, a retail analytics company that tracks fuel prices.
"Vancouver, probably, and the Lower Mainland will see some of the highest prices in Canada," said Paul Pasco, the company's principal consultant.
"That's sort of the virtue of the cost to get to market and the taxation in B.C., but across the country we're going to see record high prices.”
Pasco said the spike in price is due to a multitude of factors that have led to less supply, but growing demand.
"There's no more capacity coming into the system. So we're sort of stuck with the refining capacity that we have because we have to reduce it for scheduled maintenance. We lose that capacity to react to market events and additionally global events," Pasco said.
He added that global events – such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, the continued COVID-19 shutdowns in China, and wildfires in the western U.S. – have driven up prices, and will continue to do so.
Many drivers felt defeated by the news as they continue to face the challenges of inflation.
"I don't feel good, obviously,” said Kian Sagha. “It's been crazy the past few months. I'm working with my car so it's really hard.”
"I wish there was something we could do about it. But yeah, it is kind of outrageous that we pay as much," added Michael Aaron Lamb.
The province could see some relief next year when the Trans Mountain pipeline is completed, according to Pasco, but in the meantime, he advises people to save up and budget a bit more for fuel.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.