With record gas prices in Canada, industry analysts say motorists’ pain at the pumps will only get worse.
On Tuesday, the average price per liter of gas was 199.9 cents in Toronto, 190.9 cents in Halifax, 179.9 cents in Winnipeg and 163.9 cents in Calgary, according to GasWizard.ca. Some parts of the country topped $ 2 a liter, including Vancouver and Montreal, where gas prices were 218.9 cents and 204.9 cents on Tuesday, respectively.
Looking back on the long weekend of Victoria Day, Dan McTig, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy and the man behind GasWizard.ca, predicts that gas prices could rise by an average of 10 to 15 cents a liter across the country.
“We can see GTA prices reach $ 2.10 a liter in and around or just after the weekend of May 2-4,” McTeague told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday.
Drivers in Vancouver can pay between 229 and 235 cents per liter, while gasoline prices in Montreal can be between 215 and 220 cents.
“We are heading for the summer driving season. World economies began to strengthen after Covid. “We had a shortage of oil and petrol and diesel largely before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
On top of that, several refineries in the United States were closed for maintenance, and despite the high price of crude oil, the Canadian dollar did not reach parity with the US dollar.
“All of these things, combined with higher taxes, carbon taxes – these things tend to add to what will be the perfect storm for many consumers this summer,” McTeague said.
Vijay Muralidharan, director of consulting at energy analytics firm Kalibrate, says he expects gas prices to peak around the end of June.
“Who knows, if the driving season is strong, it can last until the end of August. But we think there will be a slight delay in July and August, “he told CTV News Ottawa on Monday.
HIGH DIESEL COSTS AFFECTING PRICES OF ESSENTIAL GOODS
Diesel prices have reached even higher heights in Canada. As of Tuesday, diesel prices have topped $ 2 a liter in every major Canadian city outside of Alberta, according to GasWizard.ca. The highest diesel prices are in St. John’s, the Netherlands, where it costs 273.3 cents per liter.
“It doesn’t matter where you are or what you buy, we will see an inflationary effect that we have never experienced in our generation,” McTeague said.
David Earl, president and CEO of the British Columbia Truck Association, says high fuel prices are a major concern for its members.
“This is our number one consumable and one of the things our members really pay attention to in terms of fuel management and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he said in an interview with CTV News Channel on Tuesday. “In the end, all the costs incurred by the transport are passed on to you and me as consumers.”
Given that the cost of transportation is the same for weight, no matter what type of product it is, Earl says that’s part of the reason food prices are rising faster than other types of products, such as electronics.
“An increase of $ 1,000 to move some goods – if you distribute that between a few million dollars of electronics, the math is very different than if you distribute it over tens of thousands of dollars of fresh produce, for example,” he said. “That’s why we see and feel it much more in our daily consumables, which we all rely on.”
With files from CTV News Ottawa
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