Photo by Shaun Penner

By Shaun Penner

Slight Decrease Likely

Gas prices in Grande Prairie to remain mostly flat: Expert

Oct 23, 2020 | 1:10 PM

With gas prices in the Grande Prairie area holding firm over the last several months, one expert suggests that may continue to be the trend for the next while.

Prices have held at or slightly below a dollar per litre since June in the area, which Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.com Patrick De Haan says will likely remain the case, but could drop slightly in the coming months.

“I will say, since about September, prices have trickled down a couple cents per litre,” said De Haan.

“The overall trend is we’re stuck in this rut: Demand for gasoline has rebounded, and did rebound for the majority of the summer, but now that we are entering autumn, demand is starting to slacken up a bit.”

Though he notes that demand is still not what it was a year ago for gasoline, prices at the pump have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in the Grande Prairie area, slowly creeping up since the price crash that brought gasoline down to an average of 66 cents per litre on April 1.

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Prices have mostly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in Grande Prairie (Courtesy: GasBuddy.com)

While anticipating the “status quo” or a slow decline in gas prices over the next several months, De Haan says it will take a couple of factors for prices to be driven back to where they were a year or two ago.

“The big two caveats are if there is a vaccine for the coronavirus, that could drive prices back up.

“But another factor is the world’s largest gasoline consumer, the United States… Washington law makers may indeed sign another stimulus package, which could boost demand in the United States, which would have a small impact on Canadian prices as well.”

Gas prices in the Grande Prairie area also sit right around the national average, which is slightly above a dollar per litre. Alberta’s average price sits at around 98 cents per litre.