Metro Vancouver gas prices expected to climb well above $2/L

Just after midnight Monday, the price for gasoline at stations throughout Metro Vancouver climbed above $2 per litre, before dipping ever so slightly below the two-dollar mark.

It is not a record high, but the fact it’s still only March “does not bode well,” because historically prices peak around April or the May long weekend, according to an analyst.

The most recent hike is being blamed on the switch from winter to summer gasoline.

To help cars start in cold weather, winter fuel contains butane which is relatively cheap, but generally not recommended for summer driving.

“That butane when burned in warmer temperatures, contributes to low-level ozone which you don't really want in cities where there are potentially hundreds of thousands of vehicles running around, including Vancouver,” said Patrick De Haan, petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.

“You’d probably noticed it in air quality,” he said.

This is also considered the shoulder season, when refineries are doing maintenance in anticipation of the switch in gasoline.

That means they aren’t producing as much fuel, and of course when supply is low, prices go up.

“It's also the fact that across Canada and the United States, there’s not just one type of summer gasoline but over a dozen, so it's a logistical challenge to get the gasoline to where it needs to go in time for that summer gasoline switch over,” explained De Haan.

As for how high the price at the pump will rise, De Haan warned that if there is an issue at one of the refineries, we could see the cost of gas climb 20 to 30 cents more per litre.