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Price for gas jumps to $1.579 per litre in Greater Victoria

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Motorists in Greater Victoria got a rude awakening Wednesday morning after the price for one litre of regular gas jumped seven cents to $1.579 per litre overnight.

On Tuesday, the fuel price tracking app gasbuddy.com pegged the price for one litre of regular gasoline in the region at $1.509. The tracking app now shows a seven-cent-per-litre increase for regular gas at most Greater Victoria gas stations.

“More than anything, it’s because last week the Parkland Refinery (in Burnaby) was down because they weren’t quite adjusted to the cold temperatures,” said Canadians for Affordable Energy President Dan McTeague.

“Secondly, the Holly Frontier Refinery in Anacortes Washington also shut down.”

McTeague says the supply issues that were caused by the two refineries being down were compounded by two storage terminals in Oregon running behind on wholesale fuel orders due to high demand.

“To put in perspective, an American example is two weeks ago gasoline prices wholesale were $2.05 a gallon U.S., right now its $2.65 a gallon,” said McTeague. “It doesn’t really matter if you are here on Vancouver Island or in Washington State, all jurisdictions are seeing prices pop.”

McTeague says as the refinery slowdown due to extreme weather continues to hamper fuel distribution, along with increased demand, he expects there to be more increase in the wholesale price of gasoline in the coming days.

“What you are seeing here in Victoria is an increase of about 12 cents a litre on the wholesale side,” said McTeague. “It looks like most gas stations have absorbed much of that, but that can’t last very long.”

“I would expect they’re going to throw-in-the-towel probably after midnight (Wednesday) and drive prices up about 10 cents a litre to $1.679,” he said.

McTeague says as long as refineries are running at reduced capacity and demand for gasoline continues to rise, he expects the price at the pumps to continue to jump until sometime in spring.

“We’re seeing a scenario where oil production is simply not keeping pace,” said McTeague. “Whether it’s Asia, Europe or now North America, there is a shortage.”  

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