Prowling the Pumps – January 13, 2009

Canadian Gasoline Prices

Average across Canada

We start the new year with a reversal of trends. The average price of gasoline in Canada is on the rise – 5.2¢ per litre last week and another 0.9¢ this week. Still, it’s 28¢ per litre cheaper than it was last year at this time.

Provincially and territorially, increases occurred everywhere except Ontario and the Yukon. The biggest rise, 0.9¢ per litre, occurred in New Brunswick. The biggest drop, 15.1¢ per litre, in the Yukon.
This probably isn’t a trend – more on that later.

Least Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Chicoutimi entered the low-cost five last week, and was joined by Drummondville this week. The remaining three positions are filled by the usual suspects from Ontario and Alberta. .Interesting to note that last year, when cities from Quebec were listed, they were usually in the pricey five.

Most Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Whitehorse managed to avoid the pricey five this week as BC made inroads with Victoria and Vancouver.

So…the Prowler doesn’t see this price rise as the start of a trend. Oil prices are still bouncing around like a monkey on speed, one day rising above $40 US per barrel and the next sinking past $30 US per barrel. One day it’s the crisis in the Middle East causing prices to soar, the next it’s larger than expected inventories causing prices to plummet. OPEC cuts production, but the price still falls because, say the pundits, the market has already taken the cuts into consideration.

Meanwhile, gasoline is still reasonably priced, although the prowler did hear some grumbling at the pumps. Strange that a month or so ago we were dancing in the street because the price had dropped below 90¢ per litre, but now we’re grousing that it’s gone back up to almost 80¢. Did we get used to low prices that quickly? Or are we afraid we’ll have to put the SUV back in the garage?

We’ll see what happens next week.

Pricing by Province

	Last Week	This Week	Change
BC	0.827	0.860	0.033
AB	0.691	0.738	0.047
SK	0.749	0.839	0.090
MB	0.754	0.767	0.013
ON	0.773	0.764	-0.009
QC	0.760	0.777	0.017
NB	0.670	0.760	0.090
PE	0.689	0.743	0.054
NS	0.707	0.792	0.085
NL	0.818	0.887	0.069
YT	1.000	0.849	-0.151
NT	0.924	0.972	0.048