(Canadian Press/Michelle Siu)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

RED DEER SEEING RECORD GAS PRICES

Gas price dip not seen in some Canadian communities as expected

Dec 3, 2021 | 1:03 PM

Gas prices in Red Deer didn’t exactly dip as anticipated this past weekend by multiple media reports.

Those reports fueled a lot of optimism following several straight months of regular grade for 137.9 cents/litre in Red Deer. It was said that the global drop in oil prices would be prices’ downfall, with fears of the Omicron COVID-19 variant spreading.

But it was only on Thursday that prices actually dropped, and it wasn’t the double digit dip everyone had come to expect. At a smattering of stations, one could fill up for 134.9.

According to GasBuddy, 137.9 is the highest average gas price in Red Deer since it started keeping records in 2008.

“It really had to do with timing. U.S. markets were closed for Thanksgiving last Thursday, and when markets opened for limited trading on Friday is when oil prices started to plummet,” says Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis, GasBuddy.

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“The decline in wholesale gas prices Friday was significant, but because it was so significant — first and foremost, some stations were sitting on much more expensive gasoline in their tanks, so they might have been hesitant to pass along the decrease immediately, knowing they’d be losing money on gasoline they already had on hand.”

De Haan says secondly that U.S. markets did not reflect the decline in price on Friday (the 26th), and the change became effective Monday evening.

Therefore, depending on some markets across Canada, he says, the rack price may not have adjusted to follow what happened on the markets with the American holiday.

“Having said all that, markets are now caught up and wholesale gas prices are still lower, so that is opening the door for stations to pass along the decrease as they sell through their existing pricey inventory,” De Haan prognosticates.

“Generally, gas bars refill only every three to five days, so they may not have purchased less expensive inventory. Plus, with Canadians knowing to hold out, it may have been more difficult for them to sell through it all.”

As of Friday (the 3rd), the average price of gas in Edmonton is 131.1 cents/litre, down from last week’s average of 133.9, and down from an average of 137.5 a month ago. A year ago in the capital, the average price for gas was 94.2.

In Calgary, the average price today is 139.2, down from 141.3 a week ago, and 141.7 a month ago. But it’s up from an average of 102.3 a year ago.

In Red Deer, the average remains 137.9, equal to last week’s and last month’s average, and up from a price of 93.9 cents/litre one year ago.

Lacombe is down three cents from a week ago at 134.9, Ponoka is down four cents to 130.9, and Sylvan Lake dropped three pennies to 131.9.

Over the past week, elsewhere across the country, Vancouver’s average is down 6.1 cents to 153.9, Regina is down 6.1 cents to 134.2, Winnipeg is steady at 135.7, Toronto has dropped 9.7 cents to 132.9, Montreal is down 6.0 cents to 145.6, and in St. John’s, gas is down 5.0 cents to 151.9.