Greater Victoria gas prices expected to hit record high
The price of gasoline on Vancouver Island is expected to jump again this week, with potentially record-setting fuel costs projected before the weekend.
The average price for a litre of regular gasoline in the Greater Victoria region hit 216.3 cents on Wednesday, according to price-tracking website GasBuddy.com.
Similar prices were measured across the island, with average prices hitting 208.9 cents in Nanaimo, 210.8 cents in the Cowichan Valley, and 213.5 cents in Campbell River, B.C.
But according to gas price-prediction website GasWizard.ca, average fuel prices could reach a record-setting 239.9 cents per litre on Thursday.
Greater Victoria's current record price was set on June 6, when prices at the pump topped out at 234.9 cents a litre. Two months earlier, B.C. Premier John Horgan announced a one-time rebate for drivers coping with climbing fuel prices.
Analysts say the high prices are due to tight supply as a major pipeline and a refinery on the West Coast undergoes maintenance.
"We're entering obviously very new territory, which most have really not expected, given that we've seen oil climb down from its heights back in June of $115 to $120 a barrel," said Dan McTeague, an analyst from Gas Wizard.
Premium fuel in the Victoria area is expected to jump as high as 258.9 on Thursday while diesel is projected to reach 201.9 cents per litre.
"The weakness in the Canadian dollar isn't helping consumers. We've lost about four cents a litre in purchasing power," added McTeague.
Earlier this month, the province announced new temporary increases to a pair of provincial tax credits in an effort to ease the pain of "unprecedented inflation," the premier said.
Horgan cited the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine as contributors to the high cost of living in the province.
"With rising costs spurred by global inflation, I understand that families’ ability to budget is made more challenging when they see price fluctuations at the pump," B.C. Energy Minister Bruce Ralston said in a statement to CTV News.
The provincial government continues to monitor the ongoing maintenance issues at refineries and resulting price hikes, he added.
"That’s why we have given the [B.C. Utilities Commission] power to look into secrecy in pricing and why we are also helping people deal with higher costs right now," Ralston said.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Regan Hasegawa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Early results from London, U.K., suggest Labour's Sadiq Khan will secure a record third term as mayor
Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party's mayor of London, appeared Saturday to be romping to victory as results from the capital pour in.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.