The Metro Vancouver area has the highest price of gas in all of North America as of Friday.
On average, British Columbians in the region are paying $2.42 per litre at some stations. This comes after an abrupt 40 cent hike to the cost for fuel.
In comparison, the national average is just $1.61 per litre.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a wider gamut of price behaviours coast-to-coast in my career,” said GasBuddy head petroleum analysts Patrick DeHaan.
“A slew of unexpected refinery disruptions, including fires and routine maintenance, have seemingly all happened in a short span of time, causing wholesale gas prices to spike in areas of the West Coast, Great Lakes and Prairies, and some of those areas could see prices spike another 10 to 20 cents per litre or more until issues are worked out.”
“There remain many factors driving prices both up and down across the country,” explained DeHaan.
Despite facing calls to temporarily suspend taxes on gas in British Columbia, Premier John Horgan has refused to budge on the issue.
In March, the BC government announced a $110 rebate for drivers through the Insurance Company of British Columbia.
BC Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Carson Binda slammed carbon taxes and gas taxes as being one of the factors contributing to unaffordability in the province.
“Here in the Lower Mainland, we have not one but two separate provincial carbon taxes that add about 26 cents a litre every single time you fill up your car,” explained Binda.
“On top of that, we also have a TransLink tax for residents of the Lower Mainland, which adds another 18.5 cents every single time you fill up your vehicle.”
The cost of gas is expected to climb all the way up to $2.46 per litre without any reductions for several weeks.
