Price at the pump jumps on west coast, stays low in Regina

While the west coast deals with soaring gas prices, Regina drivers are enjoying some of the lowest prices in Canada.

The cost for a litre of gas jumped to 163.9 cents over the weekend in Vancouver.

Dan McTeague with Gas Buddy said Vancouver always has higher gas prices.

“Higher taxes keep those prices quite high, above $1.45 at any given time, and because they only have a small refinery there that doesn’t produce enough for their own needs in the lower mainland, third largest city in all of Canada, they have to import a lot of their gasoline,” McTeague said.

McTeague said a natural gas pipeline rupture last week plays into the price.

“That natural gas pipeline sends a lot of its product down to three of the four refineries in Washington state, they had to close a lot of their operations because they use natural gas in order to turn oil into gasoline or diesel or jet fuel or other products.”

In Regina, drivers likely won’t see a jump at the pumps McTeague told 980 CJME.

Regina has the second-lowest average price of gas in Canada — sitting at $1.209 — Winnipeg is the lowest at $1.18.

“Regina’s a very competitive market and consumers tend to get a lot more benefit and bang for their buck here than perhaps most other locations across the country,” McTeague said.

McTeague said gas prices are expected to be lower during winter, but said the high price of oil could lead to some effects on price.