Prowling the Pumps – November 25, 2008

Canadian Gasoline Prices

Average across Canada

Gasoline prices are still dropping, but the rate at which they’re dropping is slowing down – 2.6¢ per litre this week compared to 3.5¢ per litre last week. The price of gasoline across Canada averaged $0.819 per litre. Our hypothetical 80-litre tank was only $2.08 less expensive to fill this week than last.

Provincial gasoline prices slid in everywhere in the country, but some cities – Kingston and Montreal – saw increases as much as 3.4¢ per litre. This week, for the second week in a row, the largest drop honours go to the Yukon at 7.5¢ per litre.

Overall, the average gasoline price in Canada has dropped 56.4¢ 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 now costs $45.12 less than it did almost four months ago – $110.64 then compared to $65.52 now.

Least Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Of the 60 cities surveyed this week, 58 enjoyed gasoline prices less that one dollar. That’s two more than last week. The number of cities paying less than 80¢ per litre grew to 10 from two. And for the first time in several weeks, Edmonton sneaks into the low-cost five, all of which were below 80¢ per litre for the first time.

Most Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Another first this week – first time three cities in the pricey five are below $1.00 per litre. Maybe next week, all five will be under the $1.00 mark.

Last week we questioned how long our flirtation with affordable gasoline will last. We pointed out that the decline seemed to be leveling off, and that trend continued this week.

In the past week, the price of West Texas Intermediate slipped below $50 US per barrel before climbing back to the $54 US mark. That’s the lowest it’s been since the spring of 2005.

The stock markets have fared better lately with almost a week of solid gains. Will the oil markets follow suit?

We’ll see what happens next week.

Pricing by Province

	Last Week	This Week	Change
BC	0.965	0.905	-0.060
AB	0.832	0.800	-0.032
SK	0.912	0.869	-0.043
MB	0.890	0.872	-0.018
ON	0.844	0.813	-0.031
QC	0.864	0.850	-0.014
NB	0.859	0.827	-0.032
PE	0.856	0.809	-0.047
NS	0.872	0.826	-0.046
NL	0.988	0.955	-0.033
YT	1.054	0.979	-0.075
NT	1.104	1.062	-0.042