Prowling the Pumps – September 30, 2008

Canadian Gasoline Prices

Average across Canada

The average price of gasoline in Canada dropped for the third week in a row, this time by only 2.5¢ per litre. Our hypothetical 80-litre tank was exactly $2.00 less expensive to fill this week than last. Gasoline prices slid everywhere except in the Yukon and Manitoba, both of which stayed at the same price as last week.

Of those provinces that did see a drop in prices, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island led the way with decreases of 5.5¢ and 5.3¢ respectively. Ontario ranked third with a 4.7¢ decline.

Overall, the average gasoline price in Canada has dropped 20.3¢ per litre since its all-time high of $1,383 per litre during the week of July 15. And this means that our hypothetical 80-litre tank costs $16.24 less than it did two and a half months ago.

Least Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

This week it all makes sense. The province with the lowest average prices, Ontario, also has the five least expensive cities in which to buy gasoline.

Most Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

As far as the pricey five go, same players as last week, different order.
The gap between the least and most expensive is a whopping 46.1¢ per litre. The reasons – distance from refineries, population size and amount of gasoline sold. Taxes aren’t a factor because Yellowknife’s taxes are 1.8¢ per litre less than Ottawa’s.

The big story as far as oil prices are concerned is still the U.S. (and by U.S. the Prowler means global) financial crisis. Every new development sparks a price change. All parties have agreed to the bailout bill. The House of Representatives defeats the bill. President Bush stresses the importance of passing the bill. Senate leaders promise it will pass in the Senate. Obama sneezes. Just after our last report, WTI was trading at $106.88 US per barrel, rose to $115.46 per barrel, dropped to $96.37 per barrel and is sitting around $100 at the time of writing. However, despite these gyrations, the price of gasoline continues to fall. The big question now – What will happen to gasoline prices once the bill is passed?

We’ll see what happens next week.

Pricing by Province

	$/litre	Last Week	This Week	Change
BC	1.333	1.315	-0.018
AB	1.199	1.198	-0.001
SK	1.279	1.262	-0.017
MB	1.232	1.232	0.000
ON	1.211	1.164	-0.047
QC	1.273	1.258	-0.015
NB	1.258	1.203	-0.055
PE	1.276	1.223	-0.053
NS	1.263	1.236	-0.027
NL	1.400	1.331	-0.069
YT	1.399	1.399	0.000
NT	1.567	1.534	-0.033