Prowling the Pumps – December 9, 2008

Canadian Gasoline Prices

Average across Canada

And, much to the joy of Canadians across the country, gasoline prices continue their descent. The average price dropped 4ȼ per litre this week, a little more than in previous . weeks. The price of gasoline across Canada averaged $0.757 per litre. Our hypothetical 80-litre tank was another $3.20 less expensive to fill this week than last.

Gasoline prices dropped everywhere in Canada this week except New Brunswick, where the price rose nine-tenths of a cent (okay, maybe the joy wasn’t totally cross-country). The biggest drop, at 6.1ȼ per litre, was in Saskatchewan

Overall, the average gasoline price in Canada has dropped 62.6ȼ 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 $50.08 less than it did

Least Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Of the 60 cities surveyed this week, 59 enjoyed gasoline prices less that one dollar, with only Yellowknife paying more than $1.00 per litre – $1.022 to be exact. The number of cities paying less than 80ȼ per litre grew to 33 from 22, and that includes two cities – Kingston and Ottawa – where they’re paying less than 70ȼ per litre.

Most Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Despite the Northwest Territories enjoying a price decrease this week, Yellowknife remains the most expensive city in which to buy gasoline in Canada, and the only city where gas is more than one dollar per litre – but only by 2.2ȼ. Maybe by Christmas we’ll all be paying less than a buck.

The question of the week last week was “we’re enjoying lower cost gasoline, diesel and heating oil just in time for winter. How soon will this change?” Apparently not for a while yet. The price of West Texas Intermediate keeps flirting with the $40.00 US per barrel mark, and so long as that happens, we’ll see fuel prices holding steady where they are now. Or dropping.

One pundit opined that oil prices could go as low as $20.00 per barrel if China’s economy continues to decline, but others were quick to negate that idea. OPEC meets on December 17, so we may see a run up in oil prices prior to that meeting. Maybe we’ll see what happens next week.

Pricing by Province

	Last Week	This Week	Change
BC	0.872	0.841	-0.031
AB	0.781	0.738	-0.043
SK	0.862	0.801	-0.061
MB	0.850	0.791	-0.059
ON	0.807	0.766	-0.041
QC	0.820	0.798	-0.022
NB	0.793	0.802	0.009
PE	0.778	0.752	-0.026
NS	0.835	0.799	0.036
NL	0.955	0.929	-0.026
YT	0.954	0.909	-0.045
NT	1.062	1.022	-0.040