No laughing issue — refinery outages have pushed gasoline price ranges to new highs in Metro Vancouver. | Shutterstock
Metro Vancouver motorists were greeted this weekend with some eye-watering gasoline rates, thanks to refining problems.
In spite of the point global oil costs have been falling because July, gasoline price ranges in Metro Vancouver shot up from about $1.95 last week to $2.20 per litre Saturday. They then shot up yet another 13 cents for every litre to a document $2.33 for each litre Sunday at some fuel stations, though by the stop of the working day, some of those retail gasoline stations had reduced their charges to about $2.18 for each litre.
There is however a wide array in selling prices nowadays, with standard gasoline selling prices in Metro Vancouver ranging from $2.10 to $2.33 for each litre. Dan McTeague of GasWizard expects $2.33 per litre will be a far more regular value more than the future handful of times.
Meanwhile, gasoline prices have declined in Japanese Canada by about 5 cents per litre in cities like Toronto and Montreal.
Gasoline costs also shot up more than the weekend in Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as in Pacific Northwest states like Washington and California, which suggests the price tag spikes are a regional challenge linked to refining capability. On Sunday, charges had been up about 13 cents for every litre in Calgary and Edmonton.
The Sturgeon refinery in Edmonton is down for upkeep. The shutdown started in early August and was predicted to past for two months. The refinery will make diesel, as properly as naptha, a component of higher octane gasoline. In spite of the shutdown of the Sturgeon refinery, diesel rates are actually down by about 5 cents for each litre across the state.
But there have also been refinery turnarounds and unanticipated shutdowns in the U.S., which include a significant fire at a refinery in Ohio, a maintenance shutdown at a refinery in Ferndale, Washington, and a batched pipeline — the Olympic pipeline — serving refineries in the Pacific Northwest was down for routine maintenance.
“One of the longest fuel rate declines on document has last but not least arrive to an end after around a dozen weeks, with gasoline selling prices taking pictures up in a number of areas amidst myriad refinery difficulties from the West Coast to the Terrific Lakes and in in between,” Patrick De Haan, head petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, mentioned in a press release.
“I never know that I’ve ever found a broader gamut of price tag behaviors coastline to coast in my vocation. A slew of unforeseen refinery disruptions, like fires and routine routine maintenance, have seemingly all occurred in a quick span of time, resulting in wholesale fuel costs to spike in areas of the West Coast, Good Lakes and Prairies – and some of people places could see price ranges spike a different 10-20 cents per litre or additional until eventually difficulties are labored out.
“In addition, as Tropical Storm Ian nears the U.S. coast, some refiners could see restricted disruption. There remain numerous components driving costs both equally up and down across the region.”
Global oil price ranges spiked above US$120 per barrel between March and June this yr, driving North American gasoline charges to some report highs.
Starting up in mid-July, they commenced slipping, partly in reaction to the release of strategic oil reserves in the U.S., with the North American benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) now sitting at US$77 for every barrel – the lowest cost considering that the starting of January 2022.
But crude oil prices are only just one of many aspects that contribute to the retail rate of gasoline.
In 2022, in Vancouver, crude oil price ranges contributed about 33% of the cost of gasoline, according to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC). Refining margins and taxes each individual created up 29% of the charge of gasoline. Retail margins produced up only 4% of the price tag of a litre of gasoline in Vancouver.
In Abbotsford, which is outdoors the Metro Vancouver transit levy area, taxes created up 23% of the price of gasoline, retail margins 6%, refining margins 30% and crude oil 40%.
In Edmonton, standard gasoline charges shot up by about 12 cents for each litre Sunday. In accordance to GasBuddy, Edmonton prices for regular gasoline range from $1.27 to $1.45 for each litre.
